You're My Flower, Lily
by chryss
Summary: For the past five years, Lily Evans was known at Hogwarts as that smart, but shy girl in Gryffindor. She thought this year would the same, but she didn't count on two things: things are not always as they appear and things have a tendency to change.
1. Ch 1: What do they want?

Title: You're My Flower, Lily  
  
Author: Chrysanthemum  
  
Summary: Lily's a shy girl, hidden behind her leaves. That's how she's been ever since... well, forever. That's how she planning to be for the rest of Hogwarts. What can possibly trigger the leaves to open and reveal the beautiful and radiant flower she is inside?  
  
[Hey peoples... This is my first ff. I hope you like it. I know my summary's pretty corny, but that was all I could think of. Rated PG-13 for some language. It's not that bad... just making sure. i'm not going to post the next chapter up until i get at least 5 reviews. that's what i'm shootin for... if not, i'll just make the story better and try again next time. have fun reading!]  
  
DISCLAIMER: yeah yeah yeah. u know. what this is. JK Rowling owns pretty much most of the characters. And also the setting and the school, and all that wonderful stuff.   
  
  
Lily Evans had been waiting for this day since summer started: Her 6th year at Hogwarts. She was looking forward to this year because it was a year where she would get the most freedom: Nobody worrying about graduating or the NEWTs. Well, maybe except for Tonya Abott, a Ravenclaw in her year, who was her close friend, but at the same time, annoyingly smart. She squirmed around in her seat, watching London trademarks slowly pass by.   
  
"Wow! Look at them dears!" Her bald-headed father said excitedly, looking at a wave of pigeons taking off, creating long shadows in the purple morning sun light. He worked at a salmon hatchery, but dreamed of being a watercolor painter someday.   
  
"Keep your eye on the road, Harold…" Her short, plump mother said.   
  
"I am, honey… But the pigeons, they're so beautiful! They're just like the ones your uncle painted some years back. I should've brought my camera!" He muttered.   
  
"No, dad. We have only 20 minutes left and look at the traffic ahead!" Lily impatiently added. It was true. There was a long line of cars trying to get into the train station. The smog was already settling on the London street and created a gray purple atmosphere. "I swear, we would be there faster by walking…"   
  
"Why don't you just get out of the car and walk there? It would do all of us good… We're wasting our time." Petunia, Lily's older sister, remarked, quiet enough for only Lily to hear. She knew that if her parents heard that, they would explode. Petunia had brown hair and sallow, almost yellow skin that clung tightly to her bones. She always had so much make-up on that she was already looking like 25, while she was only 21. She noticed Lily looking at her up and down and whispered, "What are you looking at freak?"   
  
"Nothing…" Lily quickly replied, looking outside. They were almost halfway there.   
  
"Now hon, are you sure you packed in your Tylenol?" Her mother inquired. "You know I really don't trust those magic medicines. Tylenol simply works like magic!" She laughed at her own pun. Her mother was a sales representative for, obviously, Tylenol. She had worked there for so long, and was so passionate about her job that every time she met someone, she would say 'Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Jolene. Have you ever tried Tylenol? They're simply wonderful, don't you think? About five times better than… say… Motrin.' This was one of the reasons why Lily didn't have a lot of muggle acquaintances. Most teenager Lily's age didn't find it amusing when their friend's mother passed out free Tylenol.   
  
"Yes mother" Lily said in a monotonous voice.   
  
They were now in the parking lot. Her father was talking to himself as he looked around the lot, trying to find a space. Lily looked at her watch. Gosh, I'll never get there in time… already 10:45! It takes at least 5 minutes to find a spot. It took 20 last year…  
  
"Ooh! There, dad!" She said enthusiastically, pointing at an empty parking space. They turned around the car and was about to get in—  
  
Then a red convertible sped in the precious parking space. They all jolted forward as her father stepped on the break.   
  
"Hey!" he whined. "I guess we'll have to find another spot…" He said miserably.   
  
Lily watched as the door opened and a blonde haired girl walked out. She had sunglasses on, even though it was still foggy. A man, who looked about 20, walked out. As she got her luggage out, Lily noticed that the trunk had the familiar "H" logo on it. Hmm… I wonder who that is. I've never seen her before. Lily knew most people in her grade, even though most didn't know her. She had helped Professor Binns, the history teacher, grade papers last year. But Lily herself wasn't a social butterfly. Her daily routine was breakfast, class, lunch, class, library, sometimes watch Quidditch practice, and talk with her few friends. She was thinking hard about her life at Hogwarts when she was shaken out of the daydream by her mother.   
  
"Common Lily, it's 10:50! You don't want to be late..." She said. The four of them walked into the wall between the platforms 9 and 10 as usual. She looked at the big clock hung up below the platform sign. It read 10:55. Whew! I thought I would never make it!  
  
She walked around the platform 9 3/4 trying to some space to put her luggage in, and at the same time, explaining to her mother that apparating is completely safe, which she will be taking a course for the second half of her year. Her mother always brought up the subject, even though it's been discussed over many times during the summer.   
  
"Mom, as I told you for the thousandth time, apparating is not dangerous!"  
  
"But honey, what if you end up in the middle of the Sahara, or even the middle of the ocean! You can't swim!" Her short, plump mother said hysterically.   
  
"That's why you have to pass an exam!" Lily whined with hint of anger in her voice.  
  
"But accidents…"  
  
"Then I'll apparate back," She explained. She stopped, gripped her mom's shoulder, looked in her eyes, and said soothingly, "It's okay. I promise I won't apparate unless I get 95% on the final exam."   
  
That seemed to satisfy her mother even though she won't be taking the exam until her seventh year.  
  
"Look mom, dad, you better go. I can handle it from here. Plus, Petunia doesn't seem happy" Lily said, eyeing her sister hunched in a corner, throwing dark looks at people nearby. "I'll see you at Christmas, perhaps…"  
"O honey!" Her mother cried as she threw her arms around her.  
  
"You'll make us so proud, you always do. Now go show them what you're made of" Her father beamed proudly.   
  
"Bye mom, bye dad!" Lily waved as they walked off. "Oh, and bye Petunia!" She shouted as she stood on tiptoe to see over everyone's head. Petunia lowered her head and seemed to almost disappear into the corner. Lily grinned and stuffed her luggage in a luggage compartment. Her tawny owl, Chrys, hooted unhappily as she, too, was thrown in.   
  
"Oops! Sorry Chrys!" Lily quickly said as she reached and grabbed her cage  
Just then, she heard,  
  
"Lily, Lily!" and saw a little blond head bobbing up and down on the wave of the swarming people as they crowded to get aboard.   
  
"Shay! Shay!" She laughed as her best friend ran toward her. Shayla Fintley had brown eyes and short curly brown hair which she swept in a high ponytail every morning, muttering, 'Stupid hair. Wish I can just hack it off'. She had a round face and a rather flat nose which was spotted with sparse freckles. You could always tell her mood by looking at her hazel eyes. Most of the time, they sparkled. Today, they were dancing.   
  
"Hi!" They both said in unison as they ran and hugged each other.  
  
"How was your summer, Shay?" Lily asked.  
  
"Oh! You should've been there! We went to the British Quidditch Cup and my dad got me a Silver Arrow!" She was practically jumping up and down as she showed her her new broom.   
  
She was a beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. The other beater was Riley Garhart, another close friend of Lily. Riley didn't come by the train, because her mother, Professor Garhart, taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts.   
  
"James will be pleased." Lily said.   
  
James Potter, a chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team was also the captain. He wasn't tall or short. He had unruly black hair that was windblown every morning as he always got up early to practice Quidditch by himself, occasionally joined by his teammates. His eyes were dark brown and complimented with a pair of straight eyebrows. His high cheekbones, fair tan skin were all part of James Potter. Even though he wasn't too interested in girls, they started to flock him since last year. 'hormones' he would always say. But he wasn't always that serious. He would sometimes go out with a girl for a week or two just because he felt sorry for them. It was usually the girl dumping him, saying 'I think we would be better friends, don't you think? You can introduce me to your friend, Sirius, and I can introduce you to mine!' It had always gone like that. And he would reply 'Fine with me. We'll be friends. But Sirius doesn't like girls who want to be his friend. He's more interested in those who want to go out with him…' that always left them dumbstruck.   
  
Sirius was a fun-loving, jovial boy. He was tall and lanky. His dark brown hair was short and looked like a puppy's fur. His highly arched brows were above bright blue eyes which were always shining like big shiny sickles. He had a birth mark just above his eyebrow, which he always bragged was a scar from fighting some terrible monster. Just above his long neck was a pointy chin and a strong masculine jaw line. If he didn't laugh and smile so much, he would've looked really serious, Lily always thought. But his laughs had put a permanent dimple in his cheeks and small crinkles around his eyes. He and James always hung around Remus Lupin.   
  
Oh, the sweet and smart Remus… Lily thought. She went out with him for 2 days last year, and that was how she knew Sirius and James. Remus and Lily were very intimate friends. They told each other the deepest secrets. But it ended briefly when James dared Remus to ask a girl out and go out with her for 2 days. Remus obviously asked Lily, not because he had a crush on her, but because she was one of his best friends. But Lily didn't see that and took it differently. It was quite a shock for her. But they worked things out and were closer friends than ever. But there was one thing that Remus didn't tell her. He never told her that he was werewolf. He knew that Lily's worst fear was a werewolf, because she had told him on the first day they met. Lily had gone to vacation with her family in her second year Christmas break and she saw someone get attacked by a werewolf and Belgium. Remus was like an opposite to James and Sirius. He had ash brown hair and sharp gray eyes. He was small figured and frail. Even though his physical appearance looked vulnerable, everyone knew better than that. He had a big heart and a very strong mind. He finished everything he started, kept every promise that he made. That was one of the things Lily liked about Remus. He never broke a promise, even the tiniest ones. So Lily always trusted him with her full heart.   
  
Then there was Peter Pettigrew. Peter was a shy, but kind little boy. He had dirty blonde hair that was shaped like a bowl around his head. His beady brown eyes and the little squashed nose were splashed with golden freckles. He always reminded Lily of a farmer boy. His skin straw-colored and his beady eyes were always staring off into space. Only if he had a straw to stick in his mouth…   
  
That always brought a smile to Lily's lips. Lily snapped back to reality.   
  
"We wanted to take you, but you never answered my letters! I even tried the tellipone thing." Shay said as she and Lily walked toward the nearest compartment.   
  
"Oh! My family went to America. We visited this museum and stuff. It was really cool" Lily answered. She muttered, 'here' and they sat down on an empty seat. They continued talking as the train started moving.  
  
The door opened and four boys came in: James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Lily and Shay said "hey" cheerfully and continued to chatter about their summer. The four boys sat down seat on the opposite of the aisle. They got an old piece of parchment and started to pore over it. Occasionally saying, "We forgot the dungeon under the lake" or "Do you remember if there was a room cross the kitchen side entrance?" Lily and Shay ignored them and continued to talk.  
  
The door of the compartment opened and tall skinny boy pushing the snack cart came in.   
  
"What happened to Madame Florene?" Peter asked, looking suspiciously at the boy.  
  
"She said she needed a break this year. So I'm taking her job temporarily. I'm Jake Hendricks by the way. Just got out of Hogwarts, and needed a job. This one pays pretty well, about a galleon every train ride. They even let you choose a free snack at the end of the day." Jake said.   
  
"Really?" Peter asked, now genuinely interested. They started to discuss other jobs that offered free snacks, completely oblivious to the fact that there were other people in the compartment.   
  
Remus loudly cleared his throat and said,  
  
"Two chocolate frogs please." Jake quickly looked up and said, "Oh! That will be 14 sickles…"  
  
"I'll have a slice of zucchini spice loaf and a chilled pumpkin juice." Lily said. Her stomach had been growling since she had left the house. All they got to have was a toast.   
  
"1 galleon a 2 knuts…" He replied. Lily gave him a galleon and a sickle. She got 27 knuts back. She sighed with relief as she took a bite out of the bread. Shay was having her own lunch, macaroni salad.   
  
"Hey! He accidentally gave you two galleons and 25 knuts!" She noticed, looking at the coin on Lily's lap.  
  
"Oh! I never noticed that. Here, hold on to my food, I'll be right back" Lily hastily got up.  
  
"What! That's two free galleon right there Evans! Are you crazy?!?" Sirius exclaimed. Remus rolled his eyes and smiled as he said, "She doesn't rip people off like you Sirius." He knew that Lily wouldn't know what to say, since she was shy around people except the ones she knew well. Lily gave him look of warm gratitude and left.  
  
Suddenly, the door on the other side opened and three boys came in: Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Wesley Gringly. They were all in Slytherin. Malfoy was a tall, pale blonde who had empty cold gray eyes. Snape had black greasy hair and a hooked nose, that made him look like an old vulture, and Gringly had piercing brown eyes and brown hair, he also had a very pointy face. James quickly put the parchment in his pocket. Malfoy eyed him suspiciously and was answered by a glare. He ignored it   
  
"What the hell do you want." Sirius said, making it sound more like a statement rather than a question.   
  
"We were looking for Evans," Malfoy snapped. At hearing Lily's name, Shay and Remus stood up. "Not that she would be in here anyway, I smell something foul already…" he added.  
  
Sirius lunged at him but James and Peter quickly grabbed both of his arms.   
  
"Sirius! Seriously!" James said.  
  
"He done it this time James, let me get him!" Sirius retrained.  
  
"Sirius, stop!" James said firmly. While this was happening, the three boys scanned the room, as if they were hiding Lily under a seat or something. Remus sensed that they really wanted Lily, so he said,  
  
"What do you want with Lily anyway?"  
  
"Nothing. Come on, let's go" Gringly said in a deadly whisper.  
  
As soon as the other compartment door closed, the one that Lily went through opened. She saw that everyone was standing up. She didn't know what to say. First she thought they were trying to make fun of her by facing the other direction and pretending she wasn't there. Then Shay turned around and saw Lily.  
  
"Oh Lily! We didn't see you come in!" She said. Lily smiled faintly and sat down. Everyone just then noticed that they were standing and sat down. Remus sat down by Lily.   
  
"Lily, do you anything about Malfoy, Snape, and Gringly?" he asked quietly.   
  
"Of course I do. They're in Slytherin. They're sixth year except Gringly. They--"   
  
"No, that's not what I meant. They just left, but they were looking for you." He said.  
  
"What? Why would they looking for me? I didn't do anything. I've never even talked to them. In fact, they don't even know I exist..." She trailed off, her voice getting higher and higher. Malfoy, Snape, and Gringly always meant bad news. A girl in her house had gotten bullied by them for homework the whole time last year. They hurt her everyway possible to get it from her.   
  
"It's okay Lily. I'm sure they just saw your name on the top scores for the finals and wanted to see you!" Shay said cheerfully. Then she just realized what she said. If they saw that she smart, they might bully her for homework. Lily just sighed and ate her bread and pumpkin juice. Remus gave Lily a reassuring pat and went back to sit with his friends. She just stared out the window and thought about her parents back home while Shay covered her nose in a book called Charm Your Way Through Quidditch! An hour passed like that and they were getting extremely bored when the door opened and a flushed blonde boy walked in.  
  
"I expect that we'll be arriving at Hogwarts in about 5 minutes. I was just up at the teacher's lounge. By the way, I'm Ludo Bagman. Second year in Hufflepuff. You'll be hearing about me much more of course. I'm going to be the Beater for the house Quidditch team. I was going to be last year, but you know the stupid age limit thing. I know I haven't tried out yet, but my mother says that I'm simply the best and they'll be crazy not to put me on the house team!" He said all this in one breath. James got up and said mockingly in a high voice.  
  
"Oh! Honor to meet you. James Potter's the name. I'm Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. I was going to be Head Boy, but they said I was too young. I could've been Head Boy since first year, by golly! But no, they thought I was too young." Ludo didn't catch the sarcasm. But when he heard that James was a fellow Quidditch player, Ludo was much more enthusiastic.  
  
"Oh really? I'll see you on the field soon. I gotta fly! The ladies are waiting for me!" With that and a swish of his cloak, he disappeared through the other door.   
  
"Well, that was interesting." Sirius said. Then they all started to laugh, even Lily, gradually forgetting about Malfoy, Snape and Gringly.   
  
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That's it folks! Don't forget to to R-E-V-I-E-W! hold on, did i spell that right? 


	2. Ch 2: New Friend

THANK YOU SO SO SO VERY MUCH FOR THE REVIEW!!!  
  
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Lily and Shay got off the train and walked into the nearest horseless carriage. Just before Lily stepped in, she spotted Malfoy, Snape, and Gringly. They saw her and started to walk toward her. She quickly got into the carriage, sat down, and slammed the door hoping that they were walking toward someone else. But the carriage door opened and the three boys poked there head in. They started to come in and sit on the opposite seat. Before they could close the door, Lily gulped down her fear and said,  
  
"You can't sit t-there." She said a little shakily.  
  
"Why is that?" Malfoy asked maliciously.   
  
"Because we were saving the seat for Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter" Shay said, with the same coldness in her voice.  
  
"I don't see them anywhere, do you?" Gringly said.   
  
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were still looking for a carriage. Sirius quickly spotted the one with Lily.  
  
"Hey, what's Lily and Shay doing with the Slytherins?" Sirius said frowning. Just then, they saw Shay poke her head out.  
  
"James! Come on! We found a seat for you guys!" She yelled. They all walked toward the carriage.  
  
"There, now they're coming." Shay said to Gringly, satisfied. The three boys glared and left the carriage.   
  
"Whew!" Lily and Shay said in unison when they were out of earshot. They both looked at each other and giggled.  
  
Just then, Peter came in, followed by Sirius, Remus and James.   
  
"Why were they here?" Sirius said, meaning the Slytherins.   
  
"I don't know. They just walked in and I told them that we were saving the seat for you guys, and when you started coming, they just left" Shay said.   
  
"Oh. Well, that's strange.." Remus muttered, glancing at Lily, who looked puzzled too. They shrugged it off and stayed silent through the whole ride.   
  
Soon they reached the magnificent castle. It was beautiful and gloomy at the same time. The dark sky was prickled with millions of stars and there was a half moon gleaming brightly. The school towers soared through it, piercing the opaque background. The grayish white bricks were reflected by the dark lake with little ripples caused by the first year boats that made a soft churning sound on the shore. There were torches along the walls every three feet that seemed to make the whole castle glow.   
  
Everyone stepped on to the cold hard stone stairs that led up to the great wooden doors. They opened and a face they didn't see before greeted them. This person looked to be around thirty or so and had straight brown hair that was knotted into a tight bun. She had warm brown eyes but cold, thin lips. When she spoke, she had an air to her voice.  
  
"I am Professor McGonagall. I will be teaching Transfiguration. Since Professor Allory decided to take retirement this year, I'm taking his place as the Head of the Gryffindor House." She said curtly. Her lips made the same thin line as soon as she had finished speaking.   
  
"Did you hear why Allory decided to take retirement?" James boldly dared to ask the new strict teacher.   
  
"Yes I did hear, but I'm not going to tell you. If you cared that much, you should owl him yourself. Also, calling a professor by just his last name is very disrespectful, you should know better than that, I can see you're a prefect." She said. A few people sniggered. Lily never noticed that James was a prefect. He seemed to be ashamed of it, almost. She glanced at him when he quickly covered the badge with his coat.   
  
"But he's not a professor anymore!" Sirius said, smiling.  
  
"Yes, I understand that. But he is a former professor and he should be at least called Mr. Allory." She snapped impatiently. Sirius's proud smile quickly faded.  
  
"Oooh, she's going to be tough!" Remus whispered to James and Sirius.   
  
"Now, before any further ado, please follow me." She spun around and walked toward the Great Hall. They passed paintings that whispered and pointed at them. Everyone took their seat according to their houses. The Sorting was over before Lily knew it, and Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school, stood up.  
  
"I want to welcome you this year to Hogwarts. I'm very pleased to announce that our school will be hosting the Interschool Quidditch Championships this year." A great buzz went around the great hall. Professor Dumbledore waited for quiet and continued. "The 14 schools' teams will be arriving on the fourth of December. The tournament will begin on the seventh, and end on the 18th. There will be a final Christmas ball at the 20th. And as to how our school team will be chosen, the team that had won the Quidditch Cup last year will represent our school, which is Gryffindor, if I am correct." A wild applause ruptured from the Gryffindor table. "However, the other headmasters of the schools have made an adjustment to the rules. We have reached a consensus to allow a substitute team. So, we will have substitutes, in case someone gets injured badly enough, and can't play. There will be one substitute for each of all positions. The tryouts for it will begin next Thursday and continue until the following Monday. And that is all for today. Happy Feasting! Thank you." With that said, the long cherry oak tables filled with food. The enthusiastic first years grabbed a little bit of everything while the older ones grabbed their favorites. Shay was breathlessly recalling her summer.  
  
"—and he flips around in his broom, and sees the snitch! But then he sees a bludger coming toward the seeker and can't go to hit it because that cheating scumbag dickhead Vsukay was holding onto his broom. So—" She paused to drink her juice. "He throws his bat at the bludger!" Everyone but James was busy eating and pretending to listen. James had his fork halfway in his mouth and looking as if this was the most suspenseful story ever. "The bat hits the bludger and the seeker got the snitch!" Shay said, pausing for everyone to take in the moment.   
"Bloody brilliant, that Cyclope is." James said. The Cyclope's real name was Torrain but he had lost one of his eye in a match, and the nickname stuck. "So did you get to meet him?"   
  
"Yes! I got his signature on my broom! I'll go get it—" Shay said, getting up.   
  
"It's okay Shay, you can show him at practice tomorrow." Lily quietly said. Shay shrugged it off and sat back down. Lily outreached her hand to get a roll, and someone's hand laid on hers. The small hand had a simple silver ring and short, trimmed nails. She looked up and realized it was someone she's never seen before. This girl had shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes. She had a small nose and pink, but chapped lips. Her skin was lightly tan and her face was a perfect oval.   
  
"Oh sorry" She said.   
  
"It's okay" Lily said. What are you doing? This is a prefect moment to make a new friend. She seems really nice too…  
  
"Hi, what's your name? I haven't seen you around." She said sweetly. The girl looked up with a shocked, but grateful eyes and said,  
  
"Sunmin Kim. I, uh, moved from South Korea last year. I was transferred from Soojin Academy, it's a Korean magic school. I've been spending my meals with my tutor. The magic here is really different, a lot of different principles and expectations." She said, hoping not to sound too nerdy or stupid, but an average British girl.   
  
"Oh! I think I graded your paper in Professor Binn's class. You wrote about the ancient magic in Korea right?" Lily said, desperately trying to make a new friend.  
  
"Yes. So what's your name?" Sunmin said, her too trying to make a new friend.  
  
"Lily, Lily Evans." Lily said simply.   
  
"Really? You're Remus's friend, right? Remus is my tutor. He said that you were really nice." She said. Lily beamed. They continued to talk until the feast was over. Lily was really proud of herself that she had made a new friend. Everyone got up and walked groggily back to their dorm rooms. James was in the front, leading the first years and explaining the rules.   
  
"Did you ever know that James Potter was a prefect?" Lily whispered to Shay.   
  
"No, I never heard of it." She replied, glancing at James, who was making the first years laugh by telling how he broke rules for the last five years.   
  
"Doesn't it seem like he's ashamed of it?" Lily said.  
  
"I know. It's weird." Shay said. They all filed in through the portrait hole. Lily realized that Sunmin was right behind her, and decided to introduce her new friend to Shay.   
  
"Shay, this is… um… how do you pronounce your name again?" Lily asked.  
  
"Sunmin. It's sun, like the yellow sun, and min." She said, laughing.   
  
"Yeah. This is Sunmin. She transferred from Korea last year." Lily said.  
  
"Hi! I'm Shay Fintley. I love your name! It's so cool!" Shay said, shaking Sunmin's hand. Sunmin grinned and looked at Lily graciously. The trio split as Shay and Lily went to Dorm 5A and Sunmin went to 5B.   
  
"She seems really nice, huh?" Lily said.  
  
"Yeah, she does." Shay replied, proud of Lily. Lily never talked with anyone new at Hogwarts. They brushed their teeth, got changed, and went to bed.   
  
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I know this is isn't as long as the previous chap... but a chapter's a chapter! I'll try to post every four days. 


	3. Ch 3: Quidditch, Snogging, and Some Tear...

**I realize I made a mistake in the end, Shay and Lily go to 5A and Sunmin goes to 5B. They're dorm room number/letters.**  
  
Thank you so so much for the reviews. You guys really keep me going. And here's your chappie, like I promised!  
  
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Lily opened her eyes and looked around her. Everything had a pale pink glow as the rays of the morning sun slowly started to pour in. She shivered and wondered what woke her up so early.   
  
"Shit! 6! I missed it!" Shay swore loudly, getting out of her bed.   
  
"Shay, it's 6…" Lily grumbled. She turned around in her bed, squinting at her friend.   
  
"Yes, I realize that!" She snapped, shoving her blanket off and getting up.   
  
"Breakfast doesn't start until 8 and classes don't start until 9…" Lily said hoarsely.   
  
"Yeah, but Quidditch Practice starts at 5:30!" Shay said.  
  
"What?" Lily said, wide awake. "Already?"  
  
"James told us yesterday that we'll have practice at 5:30 every morning starting today! It's special training for the Championship." Shay explained, as she changed into her practice robes. She glanced at her watch. "Crap, it's 6:10. James is going to kill me!" She washed her face, brushed her teeth and put her hair into a ponytail. "Stupid hair, waste of time…" She muttered.  
  
"Well, since I'm already awake, and can't go back to sleep, thanks to you, I'll go and watch you practice." Lily said, getting up. She walked into the bathroom and splashed her face with warm water. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her shoulder length auburn hair was disheveled. She brushed it out. Her favorite feature was her eyes. They were big, round and green and her long eyelashes were perfectly curled up. Her round eyebrows finished off her eyes. Her nose curved a little inwards and her high cheekbones were joined with small ears. Her lips were round, soft and pink. She looked at the rest of her body. She had a long neck, the only thing that made her look like Petunia, and a small petite body. Her skinny arms and her small hands were delicate and her fingernails were never painted. Her thighs and legs were short and her tiny feet were size fours.   
  
She changed into sweatpants and a sweater. She looked outside and saw that there were already some frosts on the tree branches. So she threw on another pair of pants, a long coat, wool mittens, scarves, and a beanie. She slowly followed Shay as she ran out the door. Lily noticed that she had left her broom, and chuckled to herself. She grabbed it and walked quickly out the door.   
  
When she walked into the common room, she noticed someone reading a book by the fire.   
  
"Sunmin?" Lily said, trying to look around the book.  
  
"Oh hi! I didn't see you. What are you doing so early?" She asked.  
  
"I was going to see Shay practice. She's on the Quidditch Team, you know." Lily said. "Do you want to come and watch with me?"   
  
"Sure! But you'll have to explain the game to me, I don't quite get it." Sunmin said. She was already wearing layers, so they walked out the doors. When they stepped into the field, they could see blurs of scarlet and gold around the Quidditch Field. They also heard James yelling at Shay.   
  
"Shay! We're never going to get ready! You have to wake up sooner! Plus, we can't afford to lose you. Not saying that Garhart's bad." James said, softening his voice and looking at Riley Garhart who was streaking across the field and flirting with the Keeper, Conner Banks. James softly shook his head and continued. "I guess it's okay for today, half of the team arrived at 6 anyway. Just grab your broom and start weaving in and out of the stands, try to keep your balance and do sharp turns." James said, eyeing someone flying straight into a stand. "Ouch…" He muttered a spell to slow the person down before he hit the ground. He sighed and ran over.   
  
Shay looked around and started panicking when her broom wasn't there. Then she noticed Lily yelling her name. She saw that Lily had her broom and sprinted over.  
  
"Thank—you—so—much..." Shay gasped breathlessly. She kicked and soared into the cold morning air.  
  
"Come on, let's go sit in there on the bench. We'll get a really cool view" Lily said, walking toward the benches below the goal posts. Sunmin followed.   
  
Lily remembered her first time to watch a Quidditch practice. It was also the first practice for Shay and things didn't go so well. Shay slid off her broom and the team captain then, Marshall Wood, had to catch her. When Lily was laughing at her though, a bludger came and smashed her foot, which she had to go to the nurse's and get it fixed. But that didn't stop her from coming to the practices. She usually came to most of the practices, unless she had a lot of homework to do. But she only came to a few of the morning ones, and so far, they have all been pleasant. She loved the pink and purple clouds in the powder blue sky, the sun slowly poking its face behind the forest. The wildlife in the forest were all active during that part of the day. Once or twice, a small rabbit would poke its head out at the edge and deer would come grazing at the edge of the Quidditch Field. Thousands birds would chirp cheerfully at the same time, making a loud, but interesting tune.   
  
Lily sat on the bench, watching the players practice, and explaining the game of Quidditch to Sunmin.   
  
"—and the game ends when the Seeker catches the snitch. The team who catches it get 150 points." She finalized. "Do they play Quidditch in Korea?"  
  
"Of course, I remember our school got the first in the Junior Korean Quidditch Championship." Sunmin said.   
  
"Really? Are they coming to our school for the IQC (Interschool Quidditch Championship)? Lily asked.  
  
"I hope so." Sunmin answered. She glanced at her watch.   
  
Just then, Professor McGonagall walked out on to the field. She signaled to all the players and everyone walked toward her.  
  
"We'll have a house meeting soon, so clean up and come in the common room quickly." She said.   
  
"All right, nice practice everyone. I'll see you tomorrow morning, 5:30, as usual." James said. A few people groaned but he ignored them.  
  
Lily, Sunmin, Shay, and Riley walked toward the castle.  
  
"I don't know how James can do it. He's a prefect, a Quidditch captain, and still manages to keep a good grade. And you know what? Now he comes to practice by himself at 5 in the morning." Shay said, shaking her head.  
  
"Who's the other prefect?" Lily said.  
  
"I don't know." She answered. Lily looked at Riley and she shook her head. Riley was ferocious when it came to Quidditch, just like Shay, but without the passion. She had wild black hair and black eyes. But when she wasn't playing Quidditch, she was quite nice.  
  
"What's your name" Riley asked, looking at Sunmin.  
  
"Sunmin," Sunmin said, pronouncing it carefully and slowly.  
  
"I think we should make a nickname for you." Shay said.   
  
"How about Moonmin?" Riley suggested. Everyone laughed.  
  
"How about Minnie, like the Muggle Disney character?" Shay said.   
  
"I like that" Sunmin said and everyone agreed.   
  
"All right, Minnie." Lily said. They all filed into the Common Room and headed into their dorms. Lily and Shay went to 5A and Sunmin and Riley went to 5B [there, I didn't mess up this time]. Lily and Shay changed into their robes and went into the Common Room. Most of the people were already there. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and spoke.  
  
"Today is the first full day of your life at Hogwarts this year. And I'm excited as you are, as it is my first day too." She said. Lily heard Sirius whisper in the back, "Hell yeah, we're pumped up…" There were a few sniggers in the back. Professor McGonagall suspiciously eyed the back corner but went on,  
  
"I want this year to be a very productive year. So we'll start with writing some goals down. It doesn't have to be yearly goals. It can be short as weekly or long as life time goals. You don't have to show me or anything, but I want you to take time to think over your life, and decide what you want, especially 6th and 7th years. So, just write down your top 10 goals and try to fulfill it." Everyone took a sheet of parchment from the pile and started to write their goals.   
  
Most people took this as a joke and wrote down things such as "eat 10 glasses of pumpkin juice in one hour", but Lily thought this was a good idea and started to write down her dreams. One by one, people finished and went into the Great Hall to eat breakfast. Lily folded her goals up and tucked them safely in her pocket. She was just about to leave the common room when Professor McGonagall stopped her.  
  
"Miss Evans, I have something to tell you." She said, walking toward her. "Have you ever notice that there was only one prefect?"  
  
"Yes." Lily said quietly.  
  
"Well, congratulations! You're the other!" Professor McGonagall said, handing her a letter. She saw the confused look on Lily's face and explained. "We're sorry for the delay, but it seems like the owl never reached you."   
  
Lily opened the letter and took out the badge. It was scarlet and gold. Lily smiled and pinned it on.   
  
"Thank you." Lily said, still looking at the badge.   
  
"Now the first prefect meeting is tonight, at 8 pm, in the classroom 4th to the right, after Professor Flitwick's classroom. I'll see you then." Professor McGonagall said and left.  
  
Lily walked quickly out the door, wanting to tell Shay, Sunmin, and Riley. She hasn't been so happy in her Hogwarts years! She took out her goals sheet and looked at it. Almost there, she thought, looking at the goal, 'Be Head Girl'. She was so concentrated on looking at her lists when she didn't look up, walking around a corner. Wham! Lily ran into what felt like a warm wall. She looked up and realized it was James Potter's muscular chest. She blushed deeply, and muttered sorry. Her stuff had flown all over the place, she picked up her stuff, keeping her head bowed.  
  
"Here, I'll get those…" James said, reaching over to some of her books. He spotted a piece of parchment, facing down. He was just about to pick it up, when a small pale hand snatched it. Whew! That was close. Lily thought, pocketing the list of goals. She shoved her books and notebooks in her bag. She straightened, and was about to leave, when she heard,  
  
"Hey! You're the other prefect!" James said, looking at the badge. "What's your name?"  
  
"Lily Evans," Lily murmured so quietly that she wasn't sure if she had spoken at all.  
  
"Huh?" James said, stepping closer.  
  
"Lily Evans." Lily said a little louder, stepping backward, feeling apprehensive. She tripped on a rock. She flailed her arms out, trying to grab on to something. She shut her eyes and grimaced for the fall when big strong hands grabbed her waist. She opened her eyes and looked into his warm brown eyes. He could feel her heart beating. The air around them seemed stuffy and it was hard to gasp for air. He looked into her big mysterious green eyes and smiled.  
  
"James Potter," He said, letting go of her. "I'm the other prefect. You're Remus's friend, right?"   
  
Lily simply nodded, still red.  
  
"Hey, are you going to breakfast?" James asked friendly.  
  
Lily nodded again.  
  
"Wait for me, I just forgot something." James said. "I'll be back in a sec." He turned around and ran toward the Gryffindor Common Room.   
  
Lily just stood there, dazed at what happened. She had always thought James Potter and Sirius Black were snobs, being popular and everything. But, James was very kind and warm to her. As she blinked, a big tear dropped out. Why am I crying?! She thought, wiping her eyes with her robes. He's so kind… She thought. She sniffled and organized her books that she had hastily shoved in her bag. Just then, James reappeared.  
  
"Good, you're still here." He said, smiling again.   
  
He smiles too much… Lily thought. They walked toward the Great Hall silently.  
  
"Are you excited for the IQC this year?" James suddenly asked her.  
  
"Yeah." Lily said in a high voice.  
  
"They let only 7th years go to the IQCs. They said that 6th and below should concentrate on studying. But this year, they're letting us playing, since it's home." He said. "I'm really excited. I'm kind of nervous too"   
  
Lily didn't know what to say. He was talking to her like a close friend. They walked into the crowded Great Hall.   
  
"James!" A voice shouted his name. They both turned.  
  
"Sarah." James answered unenthusiastically. A tall, skinny blonde girl was walking toward him. That's the girl I saw a King's Cross. Lily thought. Sarah came over and wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him passionately. They both ignored Lily. She turned around and half stomped to her table.  
  
"Lily! Lily!" James called. Lily didn't look back and kept on walking. She sat down by Shay and could feel hot tears coming down her cheek. I knew it, he doesn't care about me! Why would he! I'm not a slut like her! She screamed in her mind.   
  
"What's wrong?" Shay asked, concerned. Lily huffed as an answer. She heard James calling her name, getting closer and closer. She got up and walked to the Common Room. Remus saw her and got up.  
  
"James, leave her alone." He said.  
  
"No, you don't understand, I didn't do anything—" He said.  
  
"Trust me. Let me talk to her." Remus said.  
  
"All right. But, I swear, I didn't do anything to her." James said defensively. 


	4. Ch 4: Eagles' Wings

THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! i know... lily's emotional... oh well. enjoy this nice long chappie!  
  
__________________________________________  
  
Remus quickly walked to the Gryffindor Common Room.  
  
"Lily?" He said, softly. Lily sobbed as an answer. He saw her in a corner, hugging her knees to her body.   
  
"What's wrong, Lil?" He asked her, sitting down by her. Lily sniffled and sighed.  
  
"I don't know." She said quietly. Remus smiled and put his arm around her. Lily leaned her head on his shoulders and started to tell about how she got to be a prefect, her running into James, him acting so friendly, and at the end, him and Sarah snogging, right in front of her, acting as if she wasn't there.  
  
"I know it's not a big deal, but…" Lily sighed. "I just don't know…" She said, looking in to Remus' grey eyes. "It just all added up with me worrying about Malfoy, Snape, and Gringley. I guess I was so happy when James talked to me, but how he just ignored me, kissing that slut… I thought I really liked him… and I thought he—he—li—liked me back. I guess it just reminded me how nobody cares about me or my feelings... "   
  
"No, Lily, no. I care about you. Shay cares about you. So does your parents. Don't ever think like that Lily." Remus said, looking at her in the eye. "James has a girlfriend, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. If he didn't care about you, why would he talk to you?" Lily thought about this and nodded. Remus got up and offered her his hand. Lily smiled and took it.   
  
"Can you please not tell this to anyone, especially James?" Lily said. Remus smiled reassuringly and nodded.   
  
"Want breakfast?" Remus said. Lily was about to say no, but said yes instead. They walked out of the Common Room and into the Great Hall. Lily sat by Shay and Remus sat between Lily and Peter.   
  
"Lily, are you okay?" Shay asked. Lily nodded. "Sorry, I was going to follow you but Professor Dumbledore just started announcing about the IQC." Shay said. "The tryouts for the subtitutes start next tuesday a referee from Norway will referee all matches. ."   
  
Lily nodded began to talk cheerfully as if nothing happened. "Let's see," She said, comparing Shay, Sunmin, and her schedule. "I have Double Advanced Charms with you Shay, lunch, then I go to Care for Magical Creatures, DADA and Transfiguration with all of us."   
  
The great clock chimed as it announced 8:50, 10 minutes before class. Everyone got up, some stuffing a toast or two in their pockets. Lily and Shay grabbed a toast to eat on the way.   
  
"Bye Minnie, I'll see you at Lunch!" Shay and Lily waved bye to their friend and walked out of the Great Hall.  
  
"So Lily, will you tell me what happened?" Shay said.   
  
Lily told the whole story over again.   
  
"Oh! I didn't notice the prefect badge! That is so cool. I'm so sorry about what happened with James though. I'm sure he didn't purposely ignore you. Plus, I heard that he and Sarah are going to break up soon." Shay said.  
  
They walked down the long corridor and walked into the classroom. Professor Flitwick was standing on his usual stack of books.   
  
"Welcome Miss Evans and Miss Fintley! There's a seating chart in that back corner desk." Professor Flitwick said.   
  
They walked to the back and looked at the seating chart.   
  
"Look, you sit in front of me" Shay said. The seating chart said that Shay sat by James and Lily sat by Tonya Abott, a very smart Ravenclaw. Sunmin and Shay sat down and talked.   
  
"Look, there's Tonya," Shay said. "Tonya, here! You sit by Lily."   
  
Tonya was a tall girl. She had brown hair and hazel eyes and wore round frame glasses. She knew Lily and Shay because they got the top marks in Charms last year.  
  
"Hi Lily, hi Shay." Tonya said, sitting down. One by one, everyone walked in and sat down in their assigned seats. When James came in, Lily pretended to be very interested in her quill.  
  
"Lily, I'm really sorry about what happened. I—" James began to apologize but was cut off by Professor Flitwick.   
  
"Now, this year will be very fun." He said. "First, we'll be studying different kinds of wands. I know this isn't really part of the unit, but this is the most fitting class to study them. Mr. Ollivander will come to our class every Wednesday to talk about wands. Then, after Halloween, we'll be practicing on the strength of your charms. We'll work on distance between your wand and the item or person you're performing the charm on and precision of them. We'll be working on that until Christmas. I haven't planned out the rest of the year yet." He said. "Now take out your Wands Work the Wonders."  
  
Everyone got out their thick bright blue book.   
  
"Now, where did I put that book? I know I've seen it somewhere…" Professor Flitwick muttered.  
  
"Um, professor? You're standing on it." Tonya said cautiously, not wanting to insult his height or anything.   
  
"Oh!" He jumped down and tried to pull the book from under the other thick books. He grunted and pulled, but it didn't budge. Sirius who sat in the front, got up and pulled it out with ease.   
  
"Thank you, Mr. Black!" Professor Flitwick said, wiping his forehead and sighed. "Now I want you to turn your books to page 15 and read the first section…"   
  
The class went on for another for two hours, and it was finally time for lunch.  
  
"Now, I want you to write a profile about your wand by tomorrow. It doesn't have to be long, just try different spells on it, and see its 'personality'." He finished and jumped down from his stack of books.  
  
"That was an interesting lesson, don't you think?" Tonya said. "I mean, I never really paid that much attention to my wand."   
  
"Yeah." Shay answered. They walked out of the classroom.  
  
"Lily," James said.  
  
I can't ignore him this time, Lily thought. She turned around and faced him.  
  
"I'm really sorry about what happened this morning. I just forgot you were there. I didn't purposely ignore you." He said, his eyes looking sad.  
  
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Lily was going to leave it at that, but her emotions took over. "Plus, I'm used to it."   
  
"Lily." James said, about to touch her arm, but he thought about it and withdrew. He sighed as Lily walked away.   
  
"James, what's wrong?" Sirius said, walking up to his friend.   
  
"Nothing," James said. But Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Fine, I was being nice to Lily Evans, you know the other prefect, because I thought she looked kind of lonely, just hanging around her few friends, not talking to anyone else. But then Sarah came up and kissed me. Lily got really mad at me because I forgot about her. So she probably thinks that I'm some jerk who just goes out with airheads… like Sarah."  
  
"Oh. So, you're breaking up with Sarah?" Sirius said.  
  
"I don't know. I would. But then, she'll probably break up with me first." James said, almost looking hopeful. Sirius laughed. He playfully slapped James in the back and they went to lunch.   
  
They sat down across Remus and Peter.   
  
"How was Potion Remus?" Sirius said.  
  
"Fine. We're learning on how to about the potion to make you an Animagus." Remus said, smiling. The four boys started laughing.   
  
At Lily's table, an argument broke out between Shay and Riley. They were arguing which broom is the best.  
  
"Hey Minnie, do you want to come to the library with me?" Lily asked Minnie. They had both gotten tired of all the Quidditch talk.  
  
"Sure" They went into the school library. There were already a lot of people there. They went to an empty table and sat there.   
  
"So, how was your day?" Minnie asked Lily.  
  
"Fine," Lily lied. "I just found out I'm a prefect."  
  
"Oh really? That's awesome." She said.   
  
"Hey, have you ever seen Muggle photos?" Lily asked. Minnie shook her head. Lily got out the pictures of her family and laid them out on the table, pointing everyone in her family.   
  
They continued to talk about their families until Malfoy, Snape, and Gringley came over.  
  
"Hey Lily" said Gringley. Lily felt like she was being x-rayed. She gulped. They sat down next to her. She whimpered and squirmed around trying to find an excuse to leave. She noticed that Gringley was moving closer and closer to her. She scooted to the farthest end of the bench as possible. "Who are these?" Gringley, asked, pointing to the photos.  
  
"My family" Lily mumbled.   
  
"Why aren't they moving?" Gringley said, taking the photo and shaking it.  
  
"Because they're Muggle photos" Minnie said.  
  
"You mean, you're a muggle-born?!" Malfoy spat, looking at Lily.   
  
Lily nodded. They threw disgusted looks at her.   
  
"You're a mudblood!" Gringley said, now edging away from her. Lily could feel hot tears stinging at her eyes. "Come on, you guys, I don't want to breathe too much Mudblood air, it'll pollute my pure blood."   
  
The three Slytherins left. Lily was partly relieved but inside she was screaming. 'Who fucking cares if I'm a mudblood! I can do magic! I'm a prefect!' She was too angry to cry. She gripped her bag tightly, put her photos in, and said to Minnie,  
  
"Let's go, we don't want to be late."   
  
They left the library and separated into their classes. Lily arrived at her class 10 minutes early. This classroom was outside, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She didn't feel like going in and being alone with the teacher, Professor Icheo. So she sat on the edge of the steps, reading. She suddenly felt a shadow over her head and looked up.   
  
"James" she whispered shyly.   
  
"Can I sit here?" He said, pointing next to her. Lily just moved her bag and he sat.  
  
"So, how was your lunch?" James asked.   
  
"Fine, if you don't count Gringley calling me mudblood." Lily said before she could stop. What did I just do? Why am I telling him this?! She thought. But it did feel better when she told someone, even if it was someone who she hardly knew.  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry. He thinks he's so great, being in Slytherin and being pure-blooded, same with Malfoy and Snape." James said. He tried to forget about that morning. "Sarah dumped me." He said.  
  
"Why?" Lily asked, fiddling with her shoelaces.  
  
"Same reason as the past 13 girls. They fell in love with Sirius." James said. He chuckled and stopped immediately. He looked at her, or more like the back of her head. "Look, I'm really sorry about this morning. Forgive me, please."   
  
Lily looked up from her shoes and studied his eyes. They were deep brown but she noticed, with grey specks. They reminded her of the wings of an eagle. She slowly nodded. Suddenly there was an explosion at the top tower.  
  
"That would be Sirius…" James murmured. "We've been trying to make something that will make an item disappear after a while, an illusion, kind of like Leprechaun Gold."   
  
Professor Icheo came out.  
  
"What are you two doing here!" He said. He was extremely paranoid and dangerous, if you got on the wrong side of him.  
  
"We have your class next, sir." James said.  
  
"Well, then come in." Professor Icheo said. "Students strutting around when they're supposed to be a lunch… no privacy anymore..."   
  
Soon everyone filled the small classroom. The room smelled faintly of owls and cats. It was messy and there were feathers and dust all over the displays hung up on the ceiling. There were names floating on each desk and Lily went to hers and sat down. The smoke-like letters wisped away. Lily sat down by Riley who was also in this class. When everyone settled down, he went up to the front of the classroom, staring at everyone with his hawk-like eyes.  
  
"We're going to be starting a project tomorrow. You'll be chosen a partner of the opposite sex, to raise a baby winged horse. They'll be kept in the barn and you'll need to come here 2 times a day to feed it, and to exercise it. I'll go into more detail about that tomorrow, but today, you're going to research about how to take care of the winged horses. They're very similar to regular horses, with some differences, such as the most obvious one, wings." He told them. "Take out your Taking Care of Various Magical Creatures and start reading and taking notes on the 4th chapter, which is on page 194."   
  
Lily turned to the page and was greeted by a picture of a beautiful white winged horse flying through the clouds. She couldn't wait to start her project. She instantly fell in love with the winged horses as she read more about them. She already loved horses and was working at a Muggle stable every summer. Time flied by and the class was already over. Lily muttered a spell to make the book smaller and lighter and put it in her bag. She walked through the big grassy lawn, which was being divided into two Qudditch practice fields, the dark corridors that led to the Defense Against Dark Arts, and into the classroom and sat by Minnie.   
  
"Hey!" Minnie said.  
  
"Hi!" Lily answered. But that was all they could say before the professor began her lesson. They were studying werewolves and professor assigned a feet long essay due by next Friday.   
  
Lily was looking forward to her next lesson. She was beginning to like the new professor, Professor McGonagall, even though a lot of people were beginning to say she was too strict. Finally the bell rang and Lily and Minnie walked to their next class.   
  
It was already crowded by the time that they got there. It wasn't the sight the Lily was expecting. People were talking loudly and some were running around. On the teacher's table, there was a cat, sitting stiffly and looking very grim at the students. On the blackboard, there was a message.  
  
'Class-  
Please sit according to the seating chart and stay seated until I come. I will be back in 15 minutes. Start doing the introductory questions below. When I arrive and you are not in your proper seats, there will be consequences.  
Professor McGonagall'  
  
Lily her seat and started to work on the questions. Shay ran over.  
  
"Hi Lily!" Shay said. "Come on! Conner Banks is about to do 100 push ups!"   
  
Lily noticed the cat staring at her and shook her head, pointing to the blackboard.  
  
"Oh Lily," Shay whined. "Come on, loose up a bit. It says that she won't be here for 15 minutes. We still have a safe 10 minutes!"   
  
"Fine" Lily said. She walked to where there was a ring of people. In the center, Conner was deep purple and red, trying to do a hundred push-ups.   
  
"84…85…86…87…88…89…90…91…" He groaned, shaking. He finally gave up at 92. The crowd booed.   
  
"Come on, Conner, you can do better than that! I heard Potter and Black can do about 150 [i dunno if that's a realisticc number]! Even Lupin can do a 100!" Riley said, helping him up. Riley gave a disgusted groan as her hand was covered in sweat from Conner's hand. Riley wiped her hand on her robe.  
  
"You guys! It's almost 15!" Someone shouted. Everyone rushed back to their seats and started to work furiously on the questions on the board.   
  
"Where is she?" Shay turned around to look at the door. Just then, the cat in front of the class sprang up and transformed into Professor McGonagall before their eyes. Everyone gulped at the same time.  
  
"Oh, Professor, we just, um, uh, were you sitting there the whole time?" Shay asked, her voice faltering.  
  
"Yes." Professor McGonagall answered. Everyone waited in silence. "Yes, I was sitting there the whole time and I was watching the whole time too." Lily bowed her head. "I'm very very disappointed at this class. 6th years! Seriously! My 2nd year class was better!"  
  
There was a deadly silence throughout the whole room. Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed dangerously.  
  
"Miss Evans! I thought better! You're a prefect!" She screamed shrilly. Lily bowed her head further and felt her ears burning.   
  
"P-Professor, I convinced Lily…" Shay tried to defend her.  
  
"I know Miss Fintley! I was here!" She shouted.   
  
"What did James Potter do then?" Shay said, getting more fierce.  
  
That stumped her. Everyone knew that James, Sirius, and Remus were already in Advanced Transfiguration and would've probably started a chaos. Professor McGonagall shook in anger. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. She just pointed to the questions, her lips pressed tightly in a thin line. There was no more to be said. Everyone hurriedly did the questions.   
  
After about 10 minutes, Professor McGonagall wrote their homework on the board.   
  
"You may get a head start on it and work on it during class." She said and sat back down.  
  
They had to do a 2 feet essay by the following Thursday, which was in two days. A few people dared groan but the rest kept quiet. The long-waited bell sounded and everyone quickly packed and left the class. But Lily summoned all of her courage and walked to Professor McGonagall.  
  
"P-Professor, I'm so sorry about what happened. I promise you that this won't happen again. Again, I'm so sorry. If you want, I could help grade papers…" Lily trailed off.  
  
"It's okay Miss Evans. I know you're better than that, the other professors have told me much about you." She responded. Lily beamed and walked out of the classroom. Minnie was waiting for her. They walked to dinner together and sat down by Shay and Riley.   
  
"Hey you guys." Shay said. They said hi back and started eating.   
  
"So what are you guys doing tonight?" Lily asked.  
  
"Quidditch practice." Shay and Riley said at the same time.  
  
"What? You already had one!" Minnie said.  
  
"I know, James is obsessive. I swear, if we don't win the IQC, he'll kill himself." Riley said, eating a chicken leg.  
  
"Yeah. Oh Riley! You can't eat that! Remember? Veggie only on dinners! James will get furious!" Shay exclaimed.  
  
"Oh whatever. It's not like he'll ever know. He's probably in the library, poring over a Quidditch book." Riley said, dismissing it.  
  
"Or maybe he's right behind you." James said. Riley slowly lowered her chicken leg and turned around.   
  
"Hi James! You eat fast, you know. You should eat slower, helps the digestive system." Riley said in a squeaky voice, her voice termbling. James sat down between Riley and Shay. "I am so so so very sorry James. I thought one couldn't do any harm!" Riley said.   
  
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. I guess I was a little nervous this morning and went a little too far. Practice is canceled tonight. Prefect meeting." James said. "By the way, are you going to have that drumstick?" James pointed to the last chicken which was on Riley's plate.  
  
"No! Take it! All yours!" Riley said, shoving the plate toward him. He snatched it before she could just realize what she had done. "Hey!" Riley said, trying to take it back. But it was already in James' mouth. He gave a playful grin and left, enjoying the drumstick. Everyone laughed at Riley's dumbstruck face.   
  
Soon everyone was done eating.   
  
"Do you guys want to go to the Common Room and work on our homework?" Shay said.   
  
"Sure!" Minnie said, wanting to get some of her homework done.  
  
They walked through the portrait and gathered around one of the desks.   
  
"I'll do my charms first…" Lily said.  
  
"Me too…" Shay agreed.  
  
They were measuring their wands when James came in.   
  
"Lily! It's 7:50! The prefect meeting!" He said.   
  
"Oh! Thank you so much!" Lily said, putting her stuff away. She ran up to her room and threw her bag on the bed. She put her wand in her robe and ran down.   
  
"Come on, we don't want to be late." James said. They walked out.   
  
"You know for the Care of Magical Creatures project, you're going to be my partner." James said.  
  
Lily gave a surprised look at him. "What makes you say that?"  
  
"Because in every project, the prefects are always partners." He answered.  
  
"Oh." Lily said. They reached the meeting room. There were a few people already there. This was an octagonal room. There were four banners hanging from the ceiling, representing each house. There were four round tables with the house color tablecloths comfortable chairs. In the front of the room, there were seven seats. The one in the center said, "Headmaster", the four chairs on the left had the names of the heads of the houses. The two chairs on the right each had "Head Girl" and "Head Boy". Lily and James sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited. Soon the room filled and Professor Dumbledore walked in. He sat down at his chair and talked.  
  
"First of all, I want to congratulate you for achieving the position of prefect, especially Head Boy and Girl." Everyone applauded. "Now, you all know the roles of a prefect. Not only, are you setting good examples for the lower classmen this year, you are representing the best and the brightest of our school, since IQC is coming up." A few people sat up straighter. "There are four prefect bathrooms, the password will be provided by the Heads of your house later," He said, motioning his hand toward the teachers. "There will be meetings every two weeks, unless notified." He picked up a stack of papers continued. "Now let's get to business, shall we? Okay. I will give out a packet of school rules to each of you, and it's your responsibility to make sure that the students follow them, which includes yourself." He said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at James. He gave the stack of paper to the Head Girl and she passed them out.  
  
"We'll need to plan for the IQC and the following ball. Remember, the schools are arriving on the fourth of December and the IQC starts on the seventh." Professor Dumbledore said.  
  
"What schools are coming?" James asked.   
  
"Salem, Beauxton, Durmstrang, Soojin, Xangho, Berkeley, Denver, Berlin, Whaler, Hooter, Livingstone, Sierra, Tinhorn, and Renegade." Professor Dumbledore said. He continued.   
  
"The matches are already planned and the trophy for the winning team is chosen. All we need to do is make room to accommodate the let's see… if I am correct, 196 Quidditch players, 14 tutors, 14 advisors, and 14 translators! They will be coming by the train into Hogsmeade."   
  
"Why can't they sleep at the inn there?" A Ravenclaw prefect asked.  
  
"The tutors told me that they wanted to do that. Also, Durmstrang, Berlin, Tinhorn, and Livingstone are going to sleep at the inn. The rest, we wanted to welcome them into our school, instead of just sending them to sleep at some inn." Dumbledore said smiling. "We have exactly 33 empty classrooms right now. We'll use two classrooms per school. So we'll be using 20 of them. We need to furnish them. I want you to talk it over in your tables and tell me when you've come up with something."   
  
"I think 8 beds should be enough: 7 for each player, 1 for one of the adults. Maybe a nightstand per two bed and 2 wardrobes." Lily said.   
  
"Okay. Let me write that down." James said, jotting down the ideas. "The walls can the color of their schools. The floor will be needed to be filled with carpet of course. We can always move a painting or two to each room."   
  
Professor Dumbledore was walking around, looking at each group's list.  
  
"When you are done, get it approved by the head of your house and you may go. Come up with the budget and the floor plan as soon as possible. It needs to be under 50 galleons per school, which is what they have paid for accommodations. We already have most of the furniture ready. Give the list of things you need and you may start furnishing each room as soon as you receive the things you need." He said. He came over to Lily and James' table.  
  
"You will be responsible for Soojin and Berkeley." He said simply.   
  
Lily and James got done and got it approved by Professor McGonagall. They walked out of the room. He looked at his watch.  
  
"It's 10 pm. That was pretty long." He said to Lily.  
  
"Yeah…" She said softly staring into space. The short walk to the Gryffindor common room was silent. They said the password and walked in. Most of the people had already gone upstairs. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting on the desk that Lily was sitting on. Lily went upstairs to get her books. Shay had already gone to sleep. There was a note by her bed.  
  
'Lily~  
  
Sorry I couldn't wait for you. I have to get some sleep for Quidditch. Minnie's still up. She's in her dorm, waiting for you. (If you're reading this before 10:30 pm). Well, I'll see you next morning!  
  
Love,  
Shay'  
  
Lily grabbed her books and went into Minnie's dorm.   
  
"Minnie?" Lily said, knocking on the door. Minnie was reading a book on her bed.   
  
"Oh! Let's go. I didn't want to be alone with Sirius, Remus, and Peter." She said, grabbing her books too. They went downstairs.   
  
Lily sat down by Remus and Minnie sat by James.   
  
"Hi Remus." Lily said.  
  
"Hi Lily." Remus said, smiling. Lily and Minnie took their books out and started to do their homework. Lily was writing her Charms Wand Analysis. She measured her wand.   
  
"10 ¼ in" she muttered. "Willow… unicorn tail" She wrote those things down and tried a few spells on it. "Best with charms…" Soon, she was done with her homework. "What are you doing Minnie?" Lily asked, peering over to her work.   
  
"Divination. We have to describe our palm. It's really stupid. I'm almost done though." She said, staring intently at her left hand.   
  
"Lily, do you want to work on the budget and floor plan?" James asked.   
  
"Sure." She said. He sat down next to her and they started to discuss how they'll furnish the rooms. They made a list of things they would need.  
  
"Our next Hogsmeade weekend is next week. We can visit some stores and get some prices." James said. Lily nodded. They decided to paint the Berkeley room navy blue with gold stripes, the Soojin room olive and sandy colors.  
  
  
"Oh yeah, we're in charge of furnishing the room that the Soojin school will be staying in Minnie" Lily said.   
  
"Really? So they're coming? Yes!" She said. She continued to work for another 20 minutes.   
  
"Done!" Minnie yelled, throwing down her quill. Everyone jumped.   
  
"You scared us!" Sirius said. She giggled and said sorry. Minnie and Lily went upstairs and to their own dorms.   
  
"Good night!" Lily said to Minnie.  
  
"I'll see you next morning!" Minnie responded.  
  
Lily climbed into her comfortable bed and sighed as snuggled on the pillow. She thought about all the things that happened that day: James, James, James, James… No! What am I doing? She thought. I don't like James! I'm just working with him on a lot of things... Stop it! She fought in her head. She instead of thought about the winged horses project. Then they somehow led back to James, James, James...  
  
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again, thank you so so so so so so so much for the review! u guys r my hero!!! 


	5. Ch 5: An Ordinary Day and an Ordinary Bo...

HeY yOu GuYs! HeRe'S yOuR cHaPpIe On ThE fOuRtH dAy LiKe I pRoMiSeD! BoN aPpEtTiTe!  
  
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Lily woke up at seven that morning, instead of six like the previous day. She noticed Shay had left for Quidditch. She got up and got in the shower. She stood under the hot running water, thinking about the new winged horse she would get to take care of, starting today. The project… partner… James. She shook her head, trying to get rid of him. 'Get over it Lily' she said in her head. She decided to take a safer route. Her homework in Transfiguration… how the class went… how she had been yelled by Professor McGonagall… Shay defending her by bringing up James… James. 'Oh my gosh!' Lily was now screaming in her head. She tried to occupy herself by doing random math problems in her head. She was very good in math, as she was taking Arithmancy. 'Let's see, 2957 times 35… 5 times 2957… hmm… 10,285' Lily said to herself. Suddenly an image of James popped in her head, 'No, no, Lily, 2957 times five is 14,785.' 'Great. Now he talks…' Lily thought.   
  
She turned off the water and walked out slowly, trying not to slip. She summoned her bathrobe and put in on. She shook her dark red, auburn hair but still keeping it damp. She liked how her cold hair made her head clear, free of James. She dressed into her usual robes and was about to walk out to eat breakfast when Shay ran into her.   
  
"Hi Lily!" Shay said.  
  
"Hey." Lily grumbled, as the sight of Shay's Quidditch robes made her think of James.   
  
"Wait for me, I'll be right down, just need to change." Shay shouted running up the stairs.   
  
The portrait swung open and a group of Gryffindors walked in, ignoring Lily. Lily sighed and just sat down on a couch, staring at the fire. She heard the portrait open again, and she turned around, to see who it was. It was Conner Banks, flushed with Quidditch practice. He just went up to the dorm, not realizing Lily was there. Lily turned and faced the fire again, and slumped. She again heard the portrait swing open and didn't even bother to turn around to see who it was.  
  
"G' morning Lily." Remus said.  
  
"Oh hi Remus!" Lily responded, whipping around.  
  
Remus walked over and sat by Lily. They talked about their family at home. 'Good, this is keeping my mind off James…' She thought. 'No! I just thought of him again!' Soon Shay came downstairs. Remus went to his dorm and Lily and Shay left for breakfast. They sat by Sunmin and started to eat breakfast. Soon everyone was done. Their classes went normally, so did lunch, and it was soon time for double Care of Magical Creatures.   
  
Everyone whispered excitedly. They walked out into the big courtyard behind the classroom. In a fenced area, there were various colors of baby horses. But they all had a short, stubby wings growing on the side of their round sides. Professor Icheo immediately started choosing partners.  
  
"Let's see… Evans, Evans, Evans… Who should I put you with… I want to put you with someone a little dumber, to even it out a bit, but, how about someone to match your abilities with. Now let's see, who's the other Gryffindor prefect?" He asked.  
  
"James Potter" Lily said.  
  
"All right, you'll work with him," he said carelessly. He then moved onto other people. Lily walked over to James, who was talking with Peter.  
  
"Um, James, you're my partner." Lily said.  
  
"I told you," James said, smiling. "Which horse do you want?"  
  
Lily shrugged and looked at the baby horses.  
  
"I really like that black one, running around with its head held up high." James said. "Are you okay with that?"  
  
"No," A cold male voice answered. It was Malfoy. "I expect the mudblood want something more like that skinny brown sick one in the corner, they resemble each other." He sneered, looking at the poor horse by the barn, so skinny that it could hardly stand up. Its eyes were sunken and hollow. There were patches of fur missing. It only hung around with another one, almost exactly like it, except white, without the missing patches of fur.   
  
James looked at Lily whose eyes were shiny. Her lips were in a thin line as she looked away.  
  
"Go away, Malfoy. We can do fine without you. If you think that horse is good for Lily, you don't even deserve to look at it." James said simply, gripping his wand. Malfoy growled and left.   
  
"I want that one." Lily said, looking at the brown horse.  
  
"What?" James said, frowning.  
  
"I said I want the brown one." Lily said, walking over to Professor Icheo to tell him.  
  
James walked behind her, confused.  
  
"Professor Icheo, we chose our baby horse. We want that brown one, in the corner." Lily said.  
  
He looked at them suspiciously but still said,  
  
"Okay. I don't see why you would want it, but fine with me. That one's mother died when giving birth. The white one's its only friend. You want to be really gentle with her, she's really weak. Here's the bridle, just put it on her and lead her around. Today's a free day. Just make sure to put her back before the class is over."   
  
"Thank you." Lily responded, taking the black bridle.  
  
"Why the hell did you choose her?" James asked.  
  
"Because." Lily said.   
  
"Why?" James said, jogging to keep up with her.  
  
"She'll be a challenge. Plus, she looks so lonely. I know what it feels like you're the only one left out, when everyone else gets chosen." Lily said, now opening the gate.  
  
"Oh." James said.   
  
They walked in the pasture and walked to the brown horse. She was so muddy that it was uncertain to tell the real color; it just looked brown from a distance away. Lily stroked her head. The hollow sunken eyes looked up at her. They were telling a million stories. Lily just stroked her neck reassuringly. She put the bridle on her and gave the rope to James.   
  
"What should we name her?" James said, looking at Lily.   
  
"I don't know, but let's clean her up first."  
  
"All right" James led the foal into the barn and got a bucket of warm water. They got two sponges and started to clean the horse. After 10 minutes of scrubbing, they were done. Lily muttered a drying spell and took a step back to examine the foal. She wasn't brown anymore. Even though there were still patches of missing fur, she was stormy grey.   
  
"Let's name her Storm" James said, admiring the foal.   
  
"Okay." Lily said, putting the bridle on her. She led the foal out. It balanced uneasily on its wobbly legs. Its small folded wings spread out to about a feet. It walked around in the new environment, smelling new smells, tasting new grass.   
  
"Wow, look at the time, class is almost over." James said. Lily responded by putting the foal in its own stall in the barn.   
  
"Where did you learn to take care of horses?" James asked, looking at how quickly and professionally Lily handled bridle and the horse.   
  
"I work at a Muggle Horse Stable during the summer." She said. She put some hay in and Crystal Water. Crystal Water was an essential part of a winged horse's diet. It gave them extra nutrition to help them grow their wings without their own mother's milk.   
  
They walked out into the cold sun. It was straining to give out the last drop of heat from the summer, but the cold fall weather was taking over quickly. The icy breeze flew across the grassy field. Lily shivered and hugged her school uniform tighter around herself. 'I should've brought my cloak' she thought.   
  
"You cold?" James asked, taking off his thick cloak.   
  
"No, it's okay." Lily said quickly, letting go of the folds of the robe that she had been clutching tight around herself.  
  
"Yes you are." He said, smiling. He threw his cloak around her.   
  
"Th—thanks." Lily said, teeth chattering, but smiling.   
  
"What class do you have next?" He asked, getting out his schedule.   
  
"Defense Against Dark Arts." Lily responded, getting out her own schedule.   
  
"Same. I have this class with you, Advanced Charms, Potion, and let's see… you take Arithmancy?" James said.  
  
Lily nodded. He continued.  
  
"I heard it's really hard. I take Muggle Studies."   
  
They reached the warm castle corridors soon. Lily took off his cloak and said thanks.   
  
"You're welcome; I'm going to go up to my dorm and take my cloak off. I don't want to carry it around. I'll see you in class" James said and left.   
  
Lily walked down the familiar dark corridors to the DADA classroom.  
  
"Evans," A voice hissed. Lily turned around. It was Gringley. She gasped. He came out of the dark corner and grabbed her wrist. "I heard you were good with horses… you better take care of mine, the chestnut one." Lily frantically looked around, trying to find someone to call help for but no one was there. Gringley tightened his grip.  
  
"It's in the third stall from the east entrance of the barn. Vaser is my partner and I wouldn't trust her with a flobberworm." He spat. "I told her I got it taken care of. And if you don't take care of my foal I will make sure your foal is dead." Lily struggled to take her hand out of the strong grip. His nails were making red marks on her skin. "Do you hear me Evans? One word out, and you can say good bye to your own foal, and I don't think Ocheo would be pleased… neither will be Potter."   
  
"Let go, you're hurting me." Lily whimpered. He glared at her and let go. He turned around and walked as if nothing happened. Lily stood there and massaged her wrist. It had red scratch marks. She gulped down her tears and ran down to her classroom. She ran in at the last minute. She grabbed a seat by Remus and Shay.  
  
"Why are you so late?" Remus said.   
  
"I'll tell you later." Lily said. 'Should I tell him? Of course I should. I've always told him everything… But this is different. If I tell him, he'll definitely tell Professor Dumbledore and make a big deal out of it. Then Gringley will get worse… I won't tell him. But it's Remus. He's never lied to me before. He's so honest. I'll tell him someday. When it doesn't matter anymore.' Lily thought.   
  
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tHaT's... It, FoLkS! hOpE yOu LiKeD iT!!! 


	6. Ch 6: All Becuase of One Bite

Here's your chappie. sorry i'm putting it up so late. but hey, it's the fourth day. just at midnight. i had to go to my parent's friend's house. we played pool. it was kinda fun. well have fun reading!  
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The rest of the day went by pretty slow. Dinner came and went. Lily worked on her homework with Minnie and got half of it done. The Quidditch team practiced until 7:30 pm and talked about tactics until 8. When they were done, Lily walked over to James, talking with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. She could smell the fresh piney scent around James, just back from Quidditch and could feel the cool air around him.   
  
"James," She said. He turned around. "We need to work on the rooms for the IQC."   
  
"But they're not due until two weeks…" James trailed off. "Relax, I bet we're ahead of all the other prefects. Plus, me and the guys have to… um… are working on a project [cough, cough, nudge, nudge, animagus, wink, wink]."   
  
"Oh." Lily said. 'I'm such a nerd!' She screamed in her head. 'He probably thinks I'm an over-achiever and an annoying perfectionist!' She could feel her face growing hot, so she turned around and walked to where Minnie was sitting and started to work on their homework.   
  
They were both working on an essay about werewolves. Lily shuddered, remembering her summer five years ago. Her family went to Belgium for their summer vacation. They were taking a stroll down a street in the middle of a small country town in the evening. The full moon was shining brightly and they were heading for their inn. Suddenly a wolf howl sounded and people, non-muggles Lily observed, began to scramble for their homes. Lily grabbed tightly on to her mother's hand and they walked quickly down the nearly deserted street. Suddenly she could hear heavy paws thumping against the ground, as fast as her heart was bumping. She turned around and there was a full grown werewolf, about 20 feet in front of her. It glared at her with its red eyes and the glistening fur rose from its back like a porcupine. It sprang toward her and just about 5 feet away from Lily, it stopped when a rock hit its shoulder. A boy with ash brown hair had thrown it. The werewolf growled and ran full speed toward him. The skinny boy ran as fast as he could toward his house but he tripped on a root. Her family urged Lily to follow them but Lily couldn't just leave the poor boy. The werewolf now bit his ankle and his father came out and shot it, with a silver bullet. It howled and moaned but sank to the ground. Soon, it transformed into a man. The boy was wincing in pain and his ankle was bloody. Lily began to walk toward him, but her parents led her into the inn. They cried and asked her if she and Petunia were all right. Petunia was wailing at the top of her lungs that she wanted go back home right now. They immediately took flight home. Lily cried every night for the rest of the summer, thinking about the poor boy, how he had saved her. She had nightmares for two months of the red eyes, the madness dancing in them, and the werewolf chasing her forever and her tripping on a root. She always woke up right before the werewolf bit her ankle. Now that she thought about it, the boy looked very familiar. She just couldn't put a finger on it. He must've been from a magic family; his father knew how to handle the werewolf. She thought about the boy and Remus shook her and she snapped out of her daydream.   
  
"What!" She snapped. "Why are you shaking me? You could've just said my name you know."  
  
"Um, I was. You didn't answer. Are you okay?" Remus asked, concerned.  
  
"Yeah. I was just thinking." Lily said, softening her tone.  
  
"About what?" He said, sitting down beside her. Lily realized she never told Remus about the boy that saved her life.   
  
"Oh! I never told you. You know how I saw someone get bit by a werewolf in Belgium?" Lily said.  
  
Remus nodded, fiddling with her quill.  
  
"Well, it was at the end of my first year, the summer before my second. We were walking around…" She continued the story. When she got to the part where the mysterious boy came and threw the stone at the werewolf, Remus suddenly looked up.  
  
"What part of Belgium was this in?" He asked, frowning.  
  
"At Kortrijk, south of Bruges." She said, not noticing his frown. He looked confused and breathed in sharply.   
  
"It was you…" Remus softly whispered, soft enough so that Lily couldn't hear. Lily continued and when she got to the part where the werewolf bit his ankle, Remus slightly moved his ankle out of view.   
  
"—and I always wanted to find out who that boy was, thank him, and be friends with him" Lily said, sighing.  
  
"He's a werewolf you know." Remus said, unconsciously.   
  
"What?" Lily asked, taken back. Remus thought hard to cover up what he just said.  
  
"Um, he's a werewolf. He got bit. You saw the ankle." He responded, relieved.  
  
"Oh! I never realized that." Lily, the dreaminess going out of her eyes. Remus' face fell.  
  
"So now you don't like him. Just because he's a werewolf? Even though he saved your life?" He said, with an edge in his voice.  
  
"Well, I don't know. I guess I could say just thank you if I ever meet him. But I would run away right after that." She said light heartedly, laughing. "I would never be friends with him."   
  
Remus stared into space and quickly got up.   
  
"Remus?" Lily said, getting up too. His usual sharp grey eyes looked clouded and empty at the same time. They reminded her of the baby horse, Storm's eyes.   
  
"I want to go to sleep." He snapped, walking awkwardly up to his dorm. Lily just stared after him. Just then, James walked to Lily.  
  
"What's wrong with Remus?" He said, looking at Remus too.   
  
"I-I don't know." Lily said. "All I said was…"   
  
"What did you say to him?" James asked.  
  
"I just told him that I would never be friends with a werewolf, even if he saves my life." She said, confused.   
  
James' usual tan face paled to a sickly yellow color and he ran up to his dorm. There, he found Remus lying in a heap on his bed.   
  
"Remus?" James said, walking slowly toward him.  
  
"Go away. I might bite you!" He said in a choked voice.  
  
"Remus." James repeated, sitting on his bed. "If she knew it, she would've never ever said it."   
  
"Gawd. I first lose Cassie, my mom, then one of my best friends." He muffled into his pillow. Remus accidentally killed his little baby sister, Cassie, when he transformed and his mother ran away, shouting at his father, how crazy he is to raise a beast in their house. "I can't lie to Lily anymore James. I never told her. She needs me. If she finds out, she'll be devastated and she'll leave me. All because of one bite."   
  
"Tell her then." James said. "Like I said, if she knows, she would never leave you. You and Shayla are her best friends. She would never leave you just because of a few hour change once a month."   
  
"But you heard her. She wouldn't befriend a werewolf, even if it saved her life. Why the hell did it have to be me? Why couldn't it be some stupid muggle crossing the street?" Remus said. James's heart wrung with pain and sorrow for his friend. He had never seen Remus so emotional. He was always strong, maybe not physically, but mentally he had one of the strongest minds he had ever known. The last time Remus was this distressed was when he killed Cassie and his mother ran away.   
  
The door creaked open and Sirius and Peter came in.   
  
"Because Remus, because you had the strongest heart of all the people. You would be the only one who can endure this. Others would've gone crazy and delirious. But look at you. You're at Hogwarts. And you've got great friends like us!" Sirius said waving around him.  
  
Remus laughed weakly. "Thanks guys."  
  
"Our animagi potion is nearly done. Just give it one more week—" James said, cheering up.  
  
"—and the whole school is ours!" Sirius finished. They all high-fived each other, now laughing.   
  
"I will tell Lily when she is ready." Remus said, defiantly, sitting up straight. He looked out the window at the bright half moon.   
  
The next day came and Saturday passed by in a blur. It was tedious except for the fact that Remus was very stiff around Lily. Lily noticed that, but she was too busy taking care of Storm and Grinley's foal to care. Storm was getting her confidence back and was also becoming fast friends with the two prefects. Lily woke up early to take care of Gringley's horse, which she named Twills. She walked to the stable through the impenetrable fog. She could feel the cold moist water droplets suppressing against her skin, making her face cold. She soon reached the big warm stable. She went to the chestnut foal, who was making a racket by kicking its hay all around.   
  
"Shhh…" Lily calmed the foal and slipped its bridal on for its morning exercise. She led him out and put him in a fenced pasture and he happily pranced around, trying to chase a butterfly, its wings heavy with dew.   
  
She looked at the time and it was already time for breakfast. She sighed and went in the pasture, calling Twill with an apple she brought along. He trotted over and stayed calm while Lily put his bridle on and put him in his stall and gave him a fresh stack of hay. She turned around to go to breakfast and tried to push the door open. But it wouldn't budge. It seemed to be pushing back. She sighed and stepped aside, trying to look for a lock or something. Suddenly, it burst open and a black blur tumbled at her feet.   
  
"Woah! Ow!"  
  
It was James.   
  
Lily started to laugh and helped him up.  
  
"Were you pushing against?" He asked, smiling, but obviously embarrassed. Lily nodded and continued to laugh.  
  
"What were you doing here?" James said, dusting his thick cloak. Lily immediately stopped laughing and shuffled her feet.  
  
"I was just checking on Storm. She seems kind of queasy these days." She said, staring at the ground. 'I'm such a bad liar…' She thought.  
  
"Yeah, I was just going to do that too." He said, walking to Storm.  
  
He started to talk to her soothingly. She whinnied and nuzzled his pocket. Lily smiled at the familiar behavior.   
  
"She wants food." Lily said. James got out a piece of toast and Storm gobbled it up gladly.   
  
"You want a toast too?" James said, waving another piece of toast at her.   
  
"No thanks. I was just going to breakfast." Lily said turning around.   
  
"Okay, I'll come with you. My friends are waiting for me." James said, following her. They walked through the field, which the fog was now lifting and blending into the thick low clouds that were almost touching the forest top.   
  
"We can work on the charm to lock the doors of the rooms for the IQC. I've asked Madam Toyland to pick some books for lock charms for us." James said.   
  
Lily agreed and they walked in the great hall. It was warm and there were a lot of people there. She looked around but didn't see Shay or Minnie. James noticed that too.  
  
"Come sit with me." He said, taking her hand and leading her. Lily just followed and sat down at by James, who sat by Peter, in front of Sirius and Remus.   
  
"You must be Lily," Sirius said. Lily nodded. "I'm Sirius Black. Let's see… you know Remus and James. This is Peter Pettigrew." Lily already knew all of them, like the rest of the school.   
  
She grabbed a toast and started to chew it, slowly.   
  
"Guys, Malfoy's getting up…" Remus said quietly to Sirius, nudging him. Lily turned around and looked at Lucious Malfoy getting up from his seat. There was "I LOVE ME!" writing in pink on the butt part of his robes. They must've put invisible ink writing on the seat and put a charm to make it stay wet. Nobody noticed anything yet. But there were a few sniggers and pointing from the Hufflepuff table. The few giggles soon rose to a roaring laughter. Gringley pointed out what they were laughing at to Malfoy and he blushed in a weird crimson color, darker than the pink writings. He looked furiously around, looking for suspects. The Marauders, James and his friends called themselves, were laughing so hard that they had to hold on to the tables from falling off. But the rest of the school was doing that too. Gringley and Snape led Malfoy out of the Great Hall, but they didn't realize they had the same writing on their robes as well. The school continued to laugh harder. Professor Dumbledore looked at the four boy's direction but laughed amiably. One by one the Great Hall emptied and there were only a few people left.   
  
"Are you going to try out for the substitute spots for the Quidditch Team Sirius?" James asked. Sirius was good at Quidditch too, but didn't make the house team because he forgot the days and the times of the tryouts. "They're in two days, starting Tuesday and ending on Saturday. They start at 7am for an hour every day."  
  
"Naw, I deserve better than a sub." Sirius said, waving it off. In truth, he longed to fly out there with James, playing one of their made up plays, practiced during the summer. But he knew he couldn't play like that on the IQC, there were too many rules for him.   
  
James shrugged at this.  
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That's... it, folks! I know this is a really weird place to end... but oh well. it's okay. right? right. u know what? James is my favorite name! 


	7. Ch 7: In Your Face!

Hey peeps. or readers. who cares. i know i left at a weird place on my last chapter. So here's a replay of what happened. btw, Lamina Courth -a.k.a. Jen [i read your profile thing]- be patient. Lily will tell someone. kinda. oops. i gave too much away. oh well. you guys will find out later. also, kerry, james wasn't snooping around in the stable. he was just checking on how storm was.   
  
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"Naw, I deserve better than a sub." Sirius said, waving it off. In truth, he longed to fly out there with James, playing one of their made up plays, practiced during the summer. But he knew he couldn't play like that on the IQC, there were too many rules for him.   
  
James shrugged at this.  
  
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"Lily, let's go to the library." He said, getting up. Lily followed him up and they walked to the library. She grabbed a seat for him while he picked up the book from Madam Toyland. They browsed through the book until they came across a spell that would make the door itself alive.   
  
"We could do this one." James said.   
  
"What if the door doesn't like the person and refuses to open. Some door can be stubborn." Lily said.   
  
"Yeah…" he agreed. They continued to research. They finally found an Identity Spell, which would allow the door to recognize the people living in that room and letting them in. They wrote down the incantation and practiced it on the prefect bathroom stall door. It was already lunchtime and they finally mastered it.   
  
Lily went to the common room, looking for Shay or Minnie. Lily put her hands in her pocket and walked through the portrait. Then, she felt a parchment and she took it out. It was the list of the goals throughout her life. She smiled and pocketed it. Minnie was reading in one of the comfortable chairs.  
  
"Hey Minnie" Lily said, walking over. Minnie looked up startled and smiled.  
  
"Oh hi! I didn't hear you coming in." She was holding a Bible in her hand. "I was reading. I promised my pastor that I would be reading the Bible on Sundays since I can't go to church."   
  
"Cool," Lily said. "Did you already have lunch?" Minnie shook her head. "Let's go to lunch. I didn't eat yet either." They walked out the portrait door.   
  
"So what were you doing all morning?" Minnie asked.  
  
"I was working on some Lock charms for the IQC rooms with James." Lily said. "What about you? I didn't see you and Shay this morning at breakfast."   
  
"We were doing our homework and just talking in the common room. Shay must be at lunch now." Minnie said. They walked into the crowded Great Hall and spotted Shay and Riley. They walked over and sat down by them.   
  
"Hi Lily!" Shay waved cheerfully. "We missed you this morning."   
  
"I was working on the IQC rooms with James in the library." Lily said.   
  
"Oh…" Shay said, batting her eyelashes and nudging her.  
  
"What?" Lily asked, furrowing her eyebrows, although it was plain what Shay was teasing her about. "Oh. He's the other prefect. It's not like I'm working with him by choice."   
  
"So you wouldn't, if you could choose." Minnie added, joining in on the joke.  
  
"Well… Uh… He wouldn't be my last choice…" Lily said, staring into space. She shook herself and quickly added, "nor my first."   
  
"You know, he was one of the reasons I joined the Quidditch Team." Shay said, looking at James, who was now walking in with Sirius, Remus, and Peter.   
  
"Same here." Riley said. "My other reason was Conner Banks." The girls all laughed.  
  
"He is really hot…" Shay said.   
  
"Who? James or Conner?" Riley asked.  
  
"They're both pretty hot, but James could use some Height Charm." Shay said.   
  
"Sirius…" Riley said. "Just look at him. He's just the right height. His hair looks so fuzzy… I want to pet it. And his eyes…" She sighed at rested her chin on her hand.   
  
"Snap out of it Garhart" Shay said, slapping her back jokingly.   
  
"I think Remus is the best. I mean he's got the looks and the heart." Minnie said. "He so thoughtful, kind, and helpful. He not like other guys. He actually remembers stuff and never blow off a promise." They all agreed.  
  
"But still, I think Sirius and Conner tie for best looks." Riley said. While all this, Lily remained silent. She was thinking if she really liked James. 'True, I think about him all the time… but is it only his looks that I like? He is really nice…' She thought.  
  
"Who do you think Lily?" Minnie said.   
  
"Huh?" Lily responded, surprised.  
  
"Who do you think is the hottest?"  
  
"Hmm… I would have to say James."   
  
"I see…" Riley and Shay nodded, smiling.  
  
"What?" Lily said for the second time during lunch.   
  
"Nothing." Riley and Shay said at the same time.  
  
The next week went by pretty slow. Storm, the foal, was growing up rapidly and required at least two hours a day from Lily and James. Lily was tiring herself out. She could only get about five hours of sleep, due to the fact that she snuck out every morning before the Qudditch Team began practicing to take care of Twill, Gringley's foal. She covered up her dark circles under her eyes, but couldn't cover how tired and strained out she was.  
  
The IQC subs tryouts were in session and that made James very busy. He had to train his team and pick out the subs. His voice was usually hoarse from yelling every morning.   
  
It was Friday night and everyone was packed in the common room, cozy from the cold rain battering against the long windows, covered with velvet scarlet curtains. Lily, Shay, Riley, and Minnie were all doing their homework, huddled by the fire, when James came over.  
  
"Tomorrow's Hogsmead day, Lily. I'll meet you here at 9 after breakfast." He said, ignoring the giggles from the other girls. Lily said okay and went back to her work. He walked back to his friends.   
  
"I didn't know you were going out with James Potter…" Shay said, raising her brows.  
  
"Prefect business." Lily muttered, her face growing red. She buried her face in her book once more but the book was upside down.   
  
"Sure…" She said, laughing.  
  
Professor McGonagall entered the room with a big bundle robes and cleared her throat.  
  
"Will the Quidditch Team come up please?"   
  
The seven Quidditch players went forward.   
  
"These are your robes for the IQC." She said. "When I say your name, come up forward and receive them. Potter, James." James went up and received his robes. It was gold, lined with scarlet. It had a fancy H, entwined with a badger, serpent, raven, and a lion on the back and a small Gryffindor lion on the front. Then it said in fancy letters on the back of his neck, "Potter" and below it, "Chaser". On the side, it had a scarlet badge and said "Captain" and two silk scarlet stripes down his arms. The other robes were the same without the Captain badge and the scarlet stripe down the sleeves. When Professor McGonagall was done, she straightened up.  
  
"I really do wish that Hogwarts will win the IQC this year. I hear that we had gotten in the top three, but never first, for the last seven years." She left after saying that.   
  
"Yeah!" Riley shouted, after the awkward pause. There were several other 'whoo's and 'let's beat 'em!'s and everyone soon went back to what they were doing.   
  
Lily could feel her eyes slowly drooping so she called it a night and went upstairs. She washed her face and looked herself in the mirror. With her coverup and foundation off, she looked awful. Her dark circles around her eyes made her look like she had black eyes. 'And this is only the beginning of the year. Oh well, I'll get to rest this weekend.' She laid behind her thick comforters and fell asleep at eight.   
  
Lily opened her eyes, frowned at the strong sun beams shining at her eyes, groaned and shut them close again.   
  
"Lily, wake up." Shay said, shaking her. "Aren't you supposed to meet James at 9 today?"   
  
"Yeah…" Lily mumbled.  
  
Shay lifted her eyebrows. "It's 9:10." She braced herself for the reaction.  
  
"WHAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP! CRAP!" Lily shouted, throwing the cover off and ignoring the chilly air as she ran to the bathroom. "Is James downstairs?"  
  
Shay ran downstairs and James was sitting in front of the fire, talking with Sirius.  
  
"James! Are you waiting for Lily?" Shay asked breathlessly.  
  
"Um, yeah. Is she even awake?" James said.  
  
"Of course!" Shay stifled a laughter, which was slowly rising from her throat. "She'll be right down… She, uh, had a headache this morning…" Before James could say anything, Shay ran back upstairs. Lily was now putting on her robes and brushing her teeth at the same time. She rinsed her mouth and put her cloak on. She dashed out the door.  
  
"Bye Shay!" But before she reached the stairs, Lily ran right back in, muttering, 'shoes, shoes, where did I put my shoes…' She grabbed them, shoved them on and shouted bye to Shay. She took a breath to calm herself down and walked calmly to the common room.  
  
"James, I'm so sorry to keep you waiting. I—"   
  
"It's okay. It's a Saturday and we've got all day. I hope your headache's gone. I know a good charm for it, if your head still hurts." James said, getting up.  
  
"Huh? Headache? What… Oh! The headache! It's gone. I feel fine." Lily said, biting her bottom lip.  
  
"Are you sure? I look really tired. We can go tomorrow you know." James said concerned.  
  
"Oh, that's okay. Let's just get it done today." Lily said, cursing herself for not putting makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes. 'I should go to the library and look for a charm to cure dark circles under eyes.'  
  
"Alright. I'll see you at Three Broomsticks at lunch time Sirius." James said and they left out the portrait door.  
  
The sky was a sharp powder blue with high sparse clouds. The mountains were blazing with the autumn trees, showing their festive bright colors. Lily breathed in the cold refreshing air and smiled at the sight around her. There were little children running around with toy broomsticks, mixed with the Hogwarts students.   
  
"I have the list of things we need with Professor Dumbledore. He approved it and told us to show each store this note," James said, showing her a note that said:  
  
'Hogwarts is proudly sponsoring the Interschool Quidditch Championship this year. We have taken the responsibility to welcome the foreign schools and provide them with our warmest hospitability. I have given the duty to the prefects and they are in charge of furnishing the rooms. Give them proof of their purchase and write the name of the store and the total payment due on the sheet of parchment provided following this letter. I will owl you the money the following day.  
  
Sincerely,  
Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore'  
  
They went into each store and bought all supplies they needed. Some store owners did not accept the note and told them 'no cash, no business.'   
  
"Okay. That was our last item." James said, after buying some paint.   
  
"What time is it?" Lily asked.   
  
"11:30." James said, looking at his watch. "I'm supposed to meet with my friends at noon for lunch at Three Broomsticks. Do you want to eat with us?"   
  
"Um, sure." Lily didn't know what Shay, Riley, or Minnie was doing this afternoon, she never got to talk this morning.  
  
"Let's go in and wait for them. It's getting cold." James said, leading her in the warm café. They grabbed a big table and sat down.   
  
"You know, I think Storm's coming along well. I never thought she would even live." James said, after ordering two Butterbeers.   
  
"Yeah…" Lily just realized she didn't see Twill, Gringley's horse, this morning. 'oh well, I'll see him after this.' They didn't talk for about 5 more minutes. James tried to break the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"So. Tell me about your family." He said, looking up.  
  
"They're muggles." Lily said, simply, remembering what the three Slytherins called her.  
  
"So? What do your parents do?" James said, surprised.  
  
"My mom's a sale rep and my dad works for a salmon hatchery." Lily said. "How about your parents?"  
  
"My dad's an Auror." He said simply.  
  
"What about your mom?" Lily said, getting more into the conversation.  
  
"She died a couple of months ago." He said looking away.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry…" She said, startled. The brave and perfect James Potter seemed so lonely right now…  
  
"It's okay. You have no reason to be sorry. You didn't do anything to kill her." He said, smiling.   
  
"Is your family all pureblooded?" She asked.  
  
"No. My great uncle was a muggle. And one of my aunts is a squib." James said.  
  
"I see." Lily wondered how amazing it would be to live in the wizarding world all her life. True, she did get to spend most of her year at Hogwarts. But her parents didn't understand her fully. She wondered if her parents would let her get a job at the Ministry after she graduated from Hogwarts. They thought that magic was sort of Lily's hobby. But magic was Lily's life.  
  
Then, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came in. They took a seat around Lily and James. When everyone had finished eating, they talked.   
  
"I should go." Lily said, getting up. She was planning to take care of Twill.  
  
"Why?" Sirius asked curiously.  
  
"I just need to get some work done." She said simply and left for Hogwarts. She reached the pasture after about a 15 minute walk. She walked into the big stable and cleaned Twill's stable and fed him fresh hay. The big door opened and Gringley strolled in.  
  
"So, mudblood, you're doing well." He said.  
  
Lily longed to stand up to him and tell him she won't cheat. But she was becoming attached to Storm and didn't want anything happened to the foal. But she said instead, "His name is Twill."   
  
"How precious. You named him." He sneered, walking up to the foal. The foal was beginning to get scared and nuzzled toward Lily. Gringley realized what had happened. The foal was now attached to Lily, not Gringley. "I'm going to be coming in here every couple of days to see the horse—" He stopped talking abruptly when the door swung open and Tonya Abott, the Ravenclaw, walked in.   
  
"Hi Lily!" She said cheerfully. Gringley glared at her and left. "Gee, what's his problem?"   
  
Lily shrugged. They talked for awhile and Lily left toward the warm common room. She walked across the Quidditch field which the final tryout was being held. She saw Minnie sitting at one of the bleachers and decided to join her.   
  
"Hey Minnie!" Lily said, sitting beside her.   
  
"Hi!" She replied. They were both sitting behind a row of various, excited Quidditch players. Ludo Bagman was among them with his friends.  
  
"Man! I can't believe that Potter's not letting me fly right now! Only if I could show him! I mean, look at Shay Fintley and Riley Garhart. They're a pair of wimps!" He said, impatiently shaking his left leg.   
  
"Aww! Look at that! My grandmother could've gotten that!" He shouted. Riley heard that and she swung her bat and the bludger hit Ludo square in the face. He collapsed sideways. His friends were trying to help him, but everyone else, including Lily, was laughing. James was laughing too hard to blow his whistle and Riley and Shay were exchanging high fives. James reluctantly flew over and mounted Ludo on his broom.   
  
"Aren't you going to punish Garhart for that?!?" One of Ludo's friend shouted at him.   
  
James scoffed and said, "No, it was an accident. I'm sure she didn't mean to." He was trying to contain his laughter. "Plus, it shut him up…" He muttered. He flew and Ludo's three burly friends flew behind him.   
  
"Conner! Continue the scrimmage!" James shouted behind him. He returned five minutes later. They continued to scrimmage for about 30 more minutes and James finally made up his list of the reserve players. All the players who came out to try out flew and made a half circle around James and the Gryffindor House Team. James read from his list and there were shouts of joy from the seven picked players and the rest's face fell in disappointment. Minnie and Lily went down and walked into the Common Room with Shay and Riley.   
  
"Professor Burks and Vickson said I need to get a tutor in Potions and Defense Against Dark Arts." Riley complained.  
  
"That sucks. Who's the tutor?" Shay asked.  
  
"Snape. That slimy Slytherin Snape." Riley answered, shuddering. "Why couldn't it be like Conner Banks or Sirius Black?"   
  
Shay laughed and said, "You're only seeing him a few times a week, right?" Riley nodded. "See that's not too bad. At least it's not Malfoy or Gringley. Snape's the best one out of the three, I think."  
  
Riley shrugged as they stepped into the Common Room. They sat around the fire and talked about random things. Everyone started to get sleepy and walked upstairs one by one. Lily got up and decided to talk to Remus, to see what was wrong with him. She caught Sirius, who was just running in.   
  
"Sirius, where's Remus?" She asked.   
  
"Why?" He said, suspiciously.  
  
"I just walked to talk to him, that's all." Lily replied, feeling awkward.   
  
"Um, he's sick." Sirius said, looking at his feet.   
  
"Oh, okay. Tell him I hope he feels better then." Lily said, turning away. She walked to her own dorm and sat at the large window sill. She could hear Shay snoring softly.   
  
The full moon was shining brightly on her face. 'The moon is so beautiful today, only if Remus could see it. This seems like déjà vu. I mean, why does this scenario feel so familiar? I don't think I've ever saw a full moon with him.' Lily wondered. She gasped, realizing something, and raced downstairs. 'I need to talk to Sirius. He knew it, he knew it…' But Sirius wasn't there.   
  
She sat on the couch, hugging her knee to her body and resting her chin on them. She stared into the roaring fire in front of her. Lily felt so confused. Her best friend was a werewolf, her worst fear. Tears dropped out of her eye. She shuddered to even think about it. She had been alone with Remus so many times. And Remus never told her! Why had he never told her? Of course. Lily told him how she would never befriend a werewolf. And the fact that now Lily realized that Remus was the boy who saved her life made it worse. How could she say that? Now she understood why Remus had been acting so weird last week, why he had been so distant. She just sat on the couch in front of the warm fire, thinking and crying. She fell into a sleep, dreaming about the werewolf and the boy in Belgium, four years ago.   
  
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I know there hasn't been a lot of Lily+James action lately. But hold your horses! lol. i just had to let that out. 


	8. Ch 8: You're Remus

This chapter's super short, but it's early. see, it ends the whole lily/remus werewolf drama thing, so i didn't want to add it to my next chappie. more james/lily action tho. my fave name is james. btw, GO REVIEWERS!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!   
  
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"Lily?" A cool hand touched her cheek. Lily slowly opened her eyes.   
  
"James…" She said. She looked around herself and realized she was in the common room in front of the dying fire. She looked outside and it was still dark and the full moon was still bright in the dark sky. She remembered why she was there. "Where's Remus? I need to talk to him."   
  
"He's-uh- sick." James said.   
  
"Don't lie to me, James. I want to know where Remus is." Lily said, getting fierce, but her voice faltering.   
  
"He's outside." James said quietly. "Look. Remus isn't what you think he is. I mean, he is. But he's more than that."   
  
Lily spilled her heart out to him. How she was so angry about Remus not telling her. Also, how she now realized how terrible were the things that she had told him last week, about her vacation in Belgium. She felt so bad when James told her how Remus' little sister died and his mother ran away. How could she be so awful? James sat by her and put a comforting arm around her.   
  
"Remus will forgive you." That was all he could say to comfort her.   
  
She put her head on his shoulder and cried. She then fell asleep, for the second time that night, but without the nightmares.   
  
The next time she woke up, she could hear hushed voices.   
  
"She knows, Remus." James said, his arm still around Lily.   
  
"I was going to tell her tonight. This wasn't how she should've found out… Pretty shocked, wasn't she?" Remus said, shaking his head.   
  
Lily opened her eyes.   
  
"Remus…" Lily said, looking at him. His face was a pale, sick yellow color and he had dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were tired, but they were warm and welcoming as always.   
  
"Lily, I understand if you never talk to me again. I'm sorry for not telling you for so long. I was afraid I would lose you." Remus said, now walking away.   
  
"No Remus. I'm so sorry." Lily squeaked out. She got up. "What I said last week… I didn't know… I… You're not a werewolf. You're Remus." She hugged him and he hugged her back. "I'm so sorry about Cassie and your mom."   
  
"It's okay. I was so scared of loosing you. You're one of my best friends Lily. I just couldn't tell you." Remus said. He smiled.   
  
"James, thank you so much for last night." Lily said. James grinned and pat her back and left up to his dorm. Just then, Sirius and Peter came in.  
  
"Did I miss something?" Sirius asked when he saw Lily's tear stained face and Remus holding her.  
  
"She found out." He said simply. "I'm going go up and get some sleep." He let go of Lily and walked to his dorm. Sirius and Peter agreed and they followed him upstairs. Lily didn't need any sleep and also, it was early morning, time to take care of Twills. She felt guilty that she never told Remus about Twills. 'It's not a big deal anyway.' She reassured herself, even though her heart was screaming against. 


	9. Ch 9: Call Me James, Prongs, or Ike!

hello! sorry for not updating for awhile! for some reason, this site didn't work yesterday! i think it was my computer tho. oh well. here's your guys' chappie! hope you enjoy it!   
  
kawaii-kirei- btw means by the way.   
  
  
  
The next month went slowly, without any more excitement. The winged horses got bigger and Lily and James finished furnishing the rooms for the IQC. James was very excited and was training harder than ever for the IQC. One very cold October morning, Lily was walking back from taking care of Twills. She saw a beautiful white stag which was biting some moss off of the barks and strangely spitting them out. It walked around, sniffing the ground. Lily walked over to it.  
  
"Hello." She said, holding out her hand with an apple. It looked up toward her and began to walk slowly toward her. It gobbled the apple right from her hands, as if it was used to being fed.   
  
"I'm Lily. I'm going to name you Ike." She felt silly talking to the stag, but it felt good to talk to something [someone] even if it never talked back. She sat on a big rock and began talking about stuff. But it was time for breakfast and she left, saying, "I'll see you tomorrow morning here. Okay? Maybe I'll bring you a toast." She lightly skipped, humming a tune.   
  
Every morning for the next week, she met with the white stag and talked to it, as if it was a diary. She told it about Twills, how mean the three Slytherins were, stuff she usually kept to herself.  
  
"—and Ike, you won't believe how mean Malfoy, Gringley, and Snape are to me. I guess Snape isn't that bad. He's never called me a mudblood. Just hanging out with Malfoy and Gringley is bad enough though. I don't think a week has passed without them calling me a mudblood at least three times. You don't know how horrible they are Ike. They threaten to hurt me if I don't do their homework for them… especially Gringley. I'm so glad he'll be gone by next year—" She stopped abruptly as she heard a rustling sound behind her. The stag, too, looked up and walked between Lily and the sound, as if guarding her.   
  
"What the hell…" Lily whispered, as a big hairy leg poked out of the bush. Lily stepped back. It was a giant spider, at least eight feet tall. The spiders never came to the edge of the forest. It madly clicked its pinchers and screamed its terrible shriek. It was advancing on the stag and Lily. The stag raised up on its hind legs and flailed its front legs. The spider drew away slightly, but still charged menacingly. It swung its body forward and bit the stag's left shoulder. The stag slightly collapsed, but stood back up. Just when the spider was about to attack again, Lily shouted out,   
  
"Stupefy!" The spell hit the spider in one of its black blinking eyes. It shrieked and recoiled back. Lily stood firm, her hand shaking, and her big green eyes open wide. It ran away madly.  
  
"It'll probably be back again…" Lily muttered. "Oh Ike… You saved my life!" She talked to the stag, which was now lying down. The stag's shoulder was a bloody mess and she could see the white shoulder blade through the flesh. Lily shuddered but levitated it and put it in the stable, which was close by. "Now hold on here, I'll get the nurse." With that, Lily ran out the door.   
  
James transformed back to his old self. He groaned as he tried to move his left shoulder. A spider's bite couldn't heal by itself. But if he stayed here as a stag, Madam Monzingo [my fourth grade teacher's name :O)] would use a potion for animals, which could be fatal to a human. He gulped and got his invisibility cloak out of his pocket. He put in on and slowly walked back to the building. His shoulder was dripping blood and making a red trail on the grass. He swore silently, got out his wand and squirted water to wash the trail away. He grabbed his shoulder to stop the blood and drudged into the building. Then he heard hysterical voices.  
  
"The stag's in the stable right now!" Lily said.   
  
"Lily, calm down. It'll be okay. It's just a spider bite." Madam Monzingo said in her calm soothing voice. But Lily paid no heed and still half jogged ahead of the school nurse.   
  
James hoped they couldn't hear his now quickening breath and moved in to the common room, looking for Sirius. He wasn't in there so he went to his dorm, hoping to find Sirius still sleeping. Sirius was blocking the doorway.  
  
"James, I know you're there. I saw you on the map." He whispered to the invisible James.   
  
"Meet me in the Shrieking Shack. Bring some bandages." James said hoarsely. It was too dangerous to show and tell Sirius in the dorm room. Being an unregistered animagus was strictly illegal and if they ever got caught, they would be expelled for sure, if worse, be sent to Azkaban. Sirius quickly walked to the Shrieking Shack and James followed him. He finally reached the old house and took off his invisibility cloak.  
  
"Holy shit James, what happened?" Sirius asked, looking at James' shoulder. He walked to his side.   
  
"Spider…" James said simply, taking off his robes. They cleaned the wound and bandaged it. James told him the whole story.   
  
"So Lily Evans told you all those things?" Sirius said.  
  
James nodded grimly. "I feel so guilty."   
  
Sirius chuckled and playfully slapped James on his back, which made him yelp with pain.   
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Sorry!"   
  
James waved his hand carelessly. "I'll tell her." Sirius nodded.   
  
"It'll take about two week make the potion for a giant spider bite. You'll just have to hang on." Sirius said.   
  
"But how long before the poison affects the whole body?" James asked.  
  
"About a month, so you have plenty of time." He answered, now cleaning up the mess.   
  
James nodded and sat in one of the battered chair. "I can't play Quidditch huh."   
  
Sirius nodded grimly and James closed his eyes and shook his head.   
  
"At least it's not your wand arm and it's not time for the IQC yet." Sirius said optimistically.   
  
James nodded. "What should I tell the team?"   
  
"I don't know. Just say you're going to go over the strategies the next two weeks." Sirius said, getting up. "Let's go."   
  
James got up and they walked back to the common room. James was greeted by a concerned Remus.   
  
"How's your shoulder?" He whispered.  
  
"How'd you know!" Sirius said, loudly.   
  
Remus shushed him. "Lily told me everything this morning. She was hysterical about a white stag getting bit by a spider and I figured it was you since she told me the stag disappeared and you weren't here this morning."   
  
"Where's Peter? Does he know?" James asked, ignoring the previous question.  
  
"Never mind him. He's still sleeping." Remus said rolling his eyes. "How's your shoulder?"   
  
"It's fine. Sirius is going to make me a potion. Plus, it takes a month for the poison to take effect. The potion will take only about two weeks." James said. "By the way, where's Lily?"   
  
"In the library. Why?" Remus said.  
  
"I need to tell her. I feel so guilty about not telling her and all."   
  
Remus laughed softly and shrugged. "Sirius and I will start on the potion."  
  
  
A/N- if u guys want, i can email you everytime i update. tell me your email address when you REVIEW [lol] and i'll email you guys. THANX FOR READING AND REVIEWING!!! 


	10. Ch 10: I Can Be Your Hero

Frankie- I didn't really think of why the spider came out of the forest... i guess he got hungry and was looking for morning snack. he likes to eat human. lol.   
  
TriniTrinidad- I kind of ride horses. I used to go to this one horse camp, but they closed it and changed it to a stupid family camp. i don't have a horse or anything, but i try to ride as much as possible.   
  
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James ignored him and left for the library. He walked in and found Lily poring over a book in the corner. He came over and sat by her.  
  
"Hey." He said.   
  
"Hi James. Listen, the furniture we need is in. Do you want to go work on the rooms?" Lily said.   
  
"Sure, I don't have anything to do today." He said. 'I'll tell when we're working.' He thought.  
  
They walked to a vast classroom which had stacks of bed frames and another stack of mattresses. In another corner, there were racks holding unwrapped pillows and neatly folded blankets. Finally, there were wardrobes and little tables neatly lined in another corner.   
  
"Okay. I think I can levitate two wardrobes at a time. You levitate the tables and we'll come back for more."  
  
It was a strange sight. Two teenagers, with furniture bobbing in front of them, and them constantly muttering 'wingardium leviosa' as one started to fall down. Lily set her wardrobe down carefully and opened the door of one of their rooms. It was already painted navy blue with gold stripes. The carpet was gold and the tall window was covered with navy curtains. She opened the curtain and let the morning sun in. They set the wardrobes and the tables and went back for more. It was a long walk between the room and the classroom that had the furniture in. Lily put her hair in her ponytail and levitated three mattresses while James levitated the other three. James opened the door for Lily while she went on through. He left the door ajar and went back in to pick up his mattresses.   
  
"Hello mudblood. This is what you're doing on a weekend? Of course, you don't have any friends to hang out with." James could hear Malfoy's voice sneering outside in the hallway. He was about to step out when he heard Lily's voice.  
  
"Leave me alone. Go hang out with your other greasy Slytherins." James was surprised at Lily's bravery. 'I guess she couldn't stand it anymore.' He heard some whispers and Lily's muffled voice calling James' name. James ran out and saw that Malfoy was pinning Lily against the wall and covering her mouth. His eyes were glinting like cold stone and he let go when he saw James. James glared at him with a new hatred as Malfoy walked away.   
  
"Are you okay Lily?" He asked, facing her. Lily nodded still trembling but kept her head up high.  
  
"Look Lily. I know about Gringley and Twills." He said, looking at her vulnerable but piercing green eyes.   
  
"H-how?" Her eyes fluttered to meet his brown ones.   
  
"I'm an animagus."   
  
Lily looked confused and cocked her head. She breathed in sharply and whispered 'oh!'. Then she realized how much she had told him. Her eyes opened wide as plates.   
  
"How could you!" She yelled. "I-I…" She failed to find the right word. She blushed into a deep crimson color.   
  
"Lily, the thing about Gringley… It's serious." James said, ignoring her outburst.   
  
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it. She opened it again.   
  
"I was going to tell Dumbledore." She lied quickly.   
  
James looked at her skeptically.   
  
"Okay… maybe I wasn't. But what could I do? I mean, if I told Dumbledore, Gringley would hurt Storm and Malfoy, Gringley and Snape are going to be worse to me." Lily said, her eyes downcast.  
  
"Lily! This isn't about Storm! This is about you!" James said, grabbing her shoulders. He winced as the sudden movement in his arms gave a fresh wave of pain through his left arm.  
  
"I'm confused. I'll— We'll finish the rooms later." Lily said, walking quickly up to her dorm. James sighed and just moved his own three mattresses and went into his dorm to help Remus and Sirius with the potion.   
  
Lily tried to avoid James throughout the week. James and the rest of the Marauders played a new prank and a detention for it. James was walking from his detention late on Friday night.   
  
"Potter." He heard a sour voice behind him.   
  
"Malfoy. Gringley." He acknowledged. "Why are you doing this to Lily?"  
  
"She doesn't belong here. She's a fucking mudblood." Malfoy sneered, leaning against a wall.   
  
James had had it. He had heard how bad they have been to Lily and he couldn't hold it in anymore. He whipped his wand out and yelled a spell that sent Malfoy flying through the empty corridor. Gringley growled and punched James in the stomach, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to harm a fly with his wands. James doubled over and staggered as his shoulder hit the wall. Gringley raised his fist when suddenly he flew through the air and landed on top of Malfoy. James sunk to the floor, still trying to catch his breath that had been knocked out. He turned around to see a blurred girl. He blinked and took a deep staggering breath. It was Lily, white faced and her teeth clenched.  
  
"Lily?" James said, squinting.  
  
"I'm so sorry James. I should've told Dumbledore. It's been making everything worse…" Lily said, helping him up.   
  
"What are you doing here? It's midnight!" James said. They both walked away from the two grumbling Slytherins, who were still on the ground.   
  
"I-I was going to check on Twills. I was thinking on the way here and I saw you."   
  
"We should tell Dumbledore now." James said. Lily agreed and they both walked up to the gargoyle, in front of his office.   
  
"Uh, do you know the—" Lily said.   
  
"Mars Bars." The gargoyle twisted open obediently and they walked into the circular office. James noticed Lily had gone considerably pale, so he took her hand. She jumped slightly, but closed her cold fingers tightly around his.  
  
"I'll be with you shortly!" They heard Professor Dumbledore's voice, echoing through the room, even though they couldn't see him. They sat at the two wooden chair in front of his desk and waited. One of the book cases rotated open and Professor Dumbledore stepped in.   
  
"May I help you, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter?" James looked at Lily. Her eyes were staring at her shoes and her bottom lip was trembling. He squeezed her hand and she looked up.  
  
"Gringley… He forced me to take care of his foal for the Care of Magical Creatures project. He said if I didn't, he would hurt Storm, the foal that me and James are taking care of…" Lily said, meeting Professor Dumbledore's gaze. He raised his eyebrows and looked unpleasantly surprised.   
  
"Gringley, you say? The Slytherin?" He confirmed. Lily nodded. "My my. Don't worry about it Miss Evans. I'll take care of it first thing in the morning tomorrow." He reassured. "Now, go ahead to your beds now."   
  
They said their thank-you's and walked out the door.  
  
"Now that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?" James said light heartedly, trying to cheer up the mood. Lily just simply nodded.  
  
"Is your shoulder okay?" Lily asked.  
  
"Yeah. Sirius and Remus are making a potion for me and it should be ready by next Friday." He said. "So. Now that I know you really well, is there something you'd like to learn about me?"   
  
Lily smiled. "Hmm… Where do you live?"   
  
"I live just outside of Canterbury."  
  
"Really? I live in Dover!" Canterbury and Dover were very close to each other.  
  
They walked up to the portrait where the lady in the pink dress was sleeping. James cleared his throat and she woke up, startled, hastily wiping a drool coming off of her chin. They said the password and went in.   
  
"Good night Lily." James said, going to his dorms.  
  
"Good night James… Thanks for everything." Lily said, walking to her own dorms. James grinned and walked into his warm and cozy dorm. Sirius was awake and sitting upright on his bed.  
  
"Young man! Where were you! Strolling around with Lily Evans! Or should I say Lily Potter! I see that you ran into some Slytherins! I was so worried young man!" Sirius said, in a mock high voice. James laughed and went into his bed.  
  
"Seriously. [no pun intended] What happened?" Sirius asked. James told Sirius how he ran into Malfoy and Gringley and what happened after.   
  
"You would do all that for Lily Evans? I mean, Gringley could've beaten the crap out of you with your shoulder hurt." Sirius said concerned.   
  
"I know. I was just tired of seeing Lily bullied around. I mean, it makes me want to cry when I see her sad and it makes my day when I see her smile. I don't know. Weird huh?" James said.   
  
"James. You've grown up so much now. Falling in love. I'm so proud of you Jamesie boy." Sirius said, in the mock high voice again, sniffling.   
  
"Shut up." He said. "She doesn't even like me that much."  
  
"How would you know?" Sirius asked in a sing song voice.  
  
"Because. If she did, how come she didn't ask me out?" James said.  
  
"Can you say 'shy'?" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.   
  
"Whatever." James shrugged and wormed his way under the covers. "Good night." He said.  
  
"Yeah…" Sirius went under his covers too and closed his eyes. James laid wide awake, thinking about what Sirius had said.  
  
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THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! I LOVE THEM!!! 


	11. Ch 11: Halloween Feast

Hello! Was it just me or was fanfiction.net really weird for the last couple of days... I think it was. But I don't trust my computer anymore... So. Here's your chappie!  
  
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Lily woke up the next morning and went into the Great Hall to eat breakfast. She got two extra hours of sleep that morning that she really needed. She noticed Shay and Minnie and walked over to sit with them. They had breakfast and while Shay and Minnie went off to the library, Lily had to stay to prepare for the Halloween feast, which was to take place later that day. Everyone went out slowly and only the prefects and the teachers were left in the hall.   
  
"'ello!" A booming voice sounded through the hall. Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, stomped in. He was at least 8 feet tall and had a wild beard with gentle beady eyes. "The pumpkins are out in my garden. Just go and …" He stopped to think what he was going to say. He waved his hand carelessly and said, "do whatever you guys do."   
  
The prefects and the teachers walked to the garden, filled with huge bright orange pumpkins.   
  
"Prefects, you will carve the pumpkins in whatever shape your desire leads you to and take the pumpkin to the Great Hall. Teachers will be waiting in there to enchant them." Professor Dumbledore said. Then he walked to Lily and James.  
  
"Miss Evans. I talked to Mr. Gringley this morning. He got detention for a month and he was forced to drop Care of Magical Creatures and take Divination. I'm very glad you were honest with me." He said, his eyes smiling.   
  
"Thank you sir." Lily said, smiling. Then he left with the other teachers.   
  
Lily levitated a round pumpkin and set it in front of her on the grass. James followed the suit and set his next to hers.  
  
"Lily, are you okay?" James said quietly, noticing Lily had been very quiet. Lily jumped and exhaled.   
  
"I don't know if I did the right thing. I mean, I know this is the right thing. But I don't know if it was the good thing for me." She said. "I'm worried about Storm… and myself."  
  
"Lily…" James said. "Storm will be all right. She can take care of herself. She's getting her health back. And I'll protect you Lily. Don't worry about that. I won't let anyone touch you. Okay? Got that?"   
  
Lily merely nodded.   
  
"What did Malfoy say to you last week, while we were moving the beds?" James asked.   
  
"He… he said that…" Lily stopped. "I don't want to talk about it."   
  
"Okay." James said, disappointed. 'It must've been bad.' He thought. They cut a hole on the top of the pumpkin and scooped the inside out. Then they carved their jack-o-lanterns and levitated it to the Great Hall. They were the first ones there. They brought it to Professor McGonagall and she sprinkled some strange looking pebbles and muttered some incantations which made them glow brightly. Then she made them stay afloat between the ceiling and the tables.  
  
"Is that it?" James asked, impatient to see the potion for his shoulder and talk of a new prank coming up.   
  
"Yes. You may go now." Professor McGonagall said, eyeing him suspiciously.   
  
Lily was going to go straight to the library where she was to meet Shay and Minnie. Her face fell when James left the other direction, she didn't want to walk to the library alone. 'Stop being a baby Lily. Get a grip.' But then her other voice began to talk. 'What if he's hiding in a dark corner, waiting to attack or something?' Just then, James turned around, remembering Lily. He walked back.   
  
"Hey Lily, where you going to go now?" He asked.   
  
"The library." Lily said, shuffling her feet. He noticed her uneasiness and remembered what she had said that morning.   
  
"Do you want me to walk you there?" James said, smiling at her now beaming face. 'Whew!' Lily thought. She had a feeling that the first voice was rolling its eyes. Lily nodded and they walked to the library. He dropped her there and left. She walked around and looked for Shay and Minnie. She was walking down a row of tables when she tripped on a foot, sticking out from one of the tables. She fell flat on her face, yelling "Ow!". There were a few sniggers across the room. She turned around, to see whose foot it has been, her face blushing. She was greeted with Gringley's mean face.  
  
"Oops. Sorry Mudblood. My foot just slipped out… like how some words happened to slip out from your mouth last night." His eyes narrowed into slits. And he opened his mouth, 'to threaten me' Lily thought, when Madame Pince, the thin irritable librarian bustled into the scene.   
  
"Is there a problem?" She burst, her hands on her hips.  
  
"No madam. It just seems like Evans here lost her footing… out of all the places, in the library, which she should know very well, supposedly being very smart." He drawled. Madame Pince 'hmph'ed and strolled around the tables. Lily glared at Gringley and went off to sit with Shay and Minnie, who were sitting at the far table, by the window.   
  
"Lily, what's his problem?" Shay asked, eyeing the smirking Slytherins in the table across the room.   
  
"He was making me do his homework so I told Professor Dumbledore." Lily said, putting her stuff down and taking out her homework.   
  
"You go Lily! Remember Verona? She couldn't tell anyone until the end of the year that they were making her do their homework." Shay said proudly.   
  
"Yeah…" Lily said smiling, but knowing inside that she didn't tell Professor Dumbledore voluntarily… not exactly. If she didn't tell James, she didn't know if she would've really told him. They did their homework until it was time for lunch. They ate quickly and got all of their weekend homework done before the Halloween feast. They had thirty minutes to spare and decided to go to the Common Room. The marauders weren't there, which wasn't surprising. 'Why would they be doing homework on a Saturday night, before a feast?' Lily thought. 'Probably setting up a prank or something.' Lily, Shay, and Minnie sat around the fire, talking. Soon it was 7 pm, time for the feast.   
  
The Gryffindors left as a big group to the Great Hall. They were the first ones there. It looked better in the evening, than the lunchtime. The sky was dark and there was a thin sheet of grey cloud enveloping the sky. A few bright stars and the moon [don't worry, three quarters, not full] shone faintly through. The small pumpkins floated above the carved jack-o-lanterns which were strangely talking to each other.   
  
"Wha…" Minnie stood open mouthed as one of the jack-o-lanterns shouted 'Here they come!' The jack-o-lanterns made funny faces as the students stared at the pumpkins.   
  
"Excuse me!" Professor McGonagall shouted as she squeezed her way through. She stopped abruptly when she saw and heard the laughing pumpkins. "Who did this!" Her contorted face made everyone laugh as she tried not to laugh, but look furious.   
  
" We'll just carry on with our feast as planned. The pumpkins won't harm us, they're stationary. But, I am very angry at whoever did this," Professor Dumbledore walked from behind everyone. His face was expressionless. Then the corners of his mouth curled into a smile. "nonetheless, a little bit pleased, this must've taken advanced magic." He said as he shrugged and looked in the Marauders way, who mysteriously appeared in the crowd.   
  
Everyone sat by their houses. Some conversed with the pumpkins while the rest tried to ignore them, as some were quite rude and loud.   
  
"Aren't they brilliant?" Sirius asked.   
  
Lily, Shay and Minnie started laughing.   
  
"I knew it was you guys!" Shay said. "How did you do this?"   
  
"I really don't know. I came up with the idea and James and Remus pulled it off." Sirius said, shrugging.  
  
Everyone ate until they were stuffed. A few people began to yawn but some, such as the Marauders, were active as ever and were chatting loudly. The jack-o-lanterns began to grow sleepy as well. One of them fell asleep and started to drool pumpkin puree on a Hufflepuff third year girl. She shrieked and ran to the bathroom to wash the "drool" out of her hair. One by one, people left the Great Hall and headed for bed. Lily, Shay, Minnie, and the Marauders were the last ones. Shay and Minnie got tired and headed up to bed while Lily talked with Remus and James. Soon everyone went to bed. Lily stared into the ceiling, pleasant thoughts running through her head.   
  
  
The next morning was a cold grey November day, and so were the following couple of days. Lily wrapped herself with scarves, hats, and mittens before she went out to Double Care of Magical Creatures. They were now studying winter plants in Herbology. Lily always felt like she was being glared by the three Slytherins. But James was usually with her between passing times, and if not, it was Remus or Shay. The Quidditch team was now getting restless due to the now boring practices, going over strategies. On Thursday evening dinner, Riley couldn't hold it in anymore.  
  
"James" Riley burst, after many tight-lipped days around him.   
  
"Yeah?" He said, looking up from his food. He looked mildly surprised at her outburst after the days of suppressed quietness.  
  
"I want to play Quidditch." Riley said, slapping her hands on the table, narrowly missing a plate of lasagna.   
  
"You are, you're on the Quidditch Team Riley." James said, raising his eyebrows. Slowly, lowering his spoon.   
  
"I want to play real Quidditch. I understand strategy is a big part of it, but we really need to get out there and play… for real!" Riley said.   
  
James looked at Riley and Shay, who was sitting next to Riley, uncomfortably.  
  
"We're going to start out regular practices starting next Monday." He said. He nudged Sirius. He looked startled. James repeated what he had just said. Sirius looked like he was calculating something under his breath.  
  
"Yup!" Sirius said happily after a few seconds. Shay and Riley gave them both funny looks but were satisfied. Everyone got done eating and the tables were cleared.   
  
Friday went by slowly and so did Saturday. Lily and James worked on the rooms all day and got it done. After dinner, James went to the Shrieking where Sirius, Remus, and Peter were finishing up the potion. He was walking through the passage, leading to the wooden door. He heard voices.   
  
"I don't know what went wrong! I added 5 pinches of the red colored powder thing." Peter said.   
  
"Peter! There are a lot of red colored powders! Which one did you put in?" Sirius said, getting impatient.   
  
"The one with the faded label. I couldn't read it." He said.   
  
"That's supposed to be the right one." Remus said calmly. Then, James walked in. The creamy colored potion seemed to have exploded and Sirius, Remus, and Peter all had sticky creamy colored liquid dripping from their hair.   
  
"Oh my god." James said, looking at the mess.   
  
"It's okay James, all you need is like a spoonful and we still got some left in the cauldron." Remus said.   
  
"What the hell happened?" He said, walking and touching the white potion that was strewn on a chair. Sirius and Remus just looked at Peter.   
  
"I-I just added the red powder thing like I was supposed to, and it just exploded!" He said, flailing his arms widely.   
  
"It's okay Peter. We still have some of the potion left and the color looks right. We just need one last ingredient: shredded skin of boomslang. Right?" He asked Sirius and Remus.   
  
They nodded grimly and held up a soggy Petri dish that looked like soup with very thin noodles.   
  
"Oh no." James muttered and plopped down on a chair that was covered in goop. "Yuck!" He said, standing straight back up. "So we'll just need to somehow get more of those and it will be done." He said.   
  
"Yeah. I know Professor Vickson doesn't have any, we took the last jar." Sirius said. Professor Vickson was their Potions teacher.   
  
"There's someone I know who might have the ingredient." Peter said hopefully.   
  
"Who?" They all asked at the same time.   
  
"He's a Slytherin though." Peter said, raising his eyebrows. Everyone just waited for him to say something. "Snape."   
  
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Gosh. Making chapter titles are the hardest thing in the world! This one's really boring... Halloween Feast. 


	12. Ch 12: Detention Race

Here's your chappie! I know it's kinda short, but I'll give your two chapters today!  
  
... a little replay of what happened last chapter.   
  
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"He's a Slytherin though." Peter said, raising his eyebrows. Everyone just waited for him to say something. "Snape."   
  
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"Snape?!" James burst.   
  
"Yeah. His parents own an Apothecary shop. He has a ton of potion stuff." Peter said. "We can ask for some."  
  
"There's no way that we're asking that Slytherin for help." Sirius said, his lips tight.   
  
"But Sirius, James needs it." Remus said. Sirius seemed to be deep in thought. And finally muttered,  
  
"Fine."   
  
James leaned against a dry wall. 'I guess this could work.' He thought.   
  
"Okay. I'll ask for him tomorrow morning." James said.   
  
"All right." Peter said, walking out.   
  
"Oh no you don't Peter." Sirius said. Peter stopped in his tracks and turned around. "You're helping us clean up."   
  
Peter groaned and everyone laughed. It took about an hour to get the muck off the ceilings and washing the sheets and hanging them to dry. Luckily, the floor was wooden so it could be mopped.   
  
James looked at the Marauder's Map, looking for the dot labeled, 'Severus Snape.'   
  
"Ah ha!" he whispered. Snape was walking from the prefect bathroom and walking down a long corridor. James made no one was with him and ran to catch up with him.   
  
"Snape!" He yelled. The greasy boy turned around.   
  
"Potter." Snape spat, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"   
  
"Look. I need your help." James felt like that was hardest thing to say in his whole life.   
  
"Oh really. Little genius Evans couldn't help you?" Snape said.   
  
James kept his mouth shut before he could start yelling at Snape. "I need some shredded skin of boomslang."   
  
"That will cost you Potter." Snape said, his lips curling into a mischievous smile.   
  
"Name it." James said, regretting this more and more.   
  
"30 galleons." He said. "30 or nothing."   
  
James knew better not to argue. He nodded. "I need only about half a cup. Bring it here, I'll get the money."  
  
"Not so fast. Tell me what you need it for." Snape said.   
  
"None of your business." James said. 'Why did I even think this was going to work…' He thought.   
  
"Tell me or I won't get you any." Snape said, his nose high in the air.   
  
"It's for a potion." James said simply.   
  
"Any dumb ass can figure that out." He retorted. "What potion."  
  
"Polyjuice." James lied. It was better to make a Polyjuice potion and break the school rule than for Snape to find out they were animagus.   
  
"Interesting." Snape said. "I'll bring it here in 5 minutes." He left, his black cloak billowing behind him.   
  
James raced back to the common room and grabbed the money.   
  
"How much did he ask for?" Sirius said.   
  
"30." James said.   
  
"Only 30? I thought he would ask for like 40!" Sirius said.   
  
"30 galleons." James said.   
  
"What? Shit! That's a hell lot of money right there." Sirius shouted. "You know I can get rich by doing that too." He said, cocking his head.   
  
James walked fast to the long corridor. Snape was already there.   
  
"What took you so long? I said five minutes, not ten." Snape growled.   
  
"The boomslang skin?" James said, ignoring his comment. He handed him the money and received the jar containing shredded boomslang skin. He left before Snape could say a word.   
  
"Did you get it?" Remus asked excitedly in the common room. James nodded and they left for the Shrieking Shack to finish the potion. They added the boomslang skin and the potion turned pure white, how it was supposed to be. Everyone cheered. James took out a spoon he had brought and gulped the potion down.   
  
"Tastes like…" James paused trying to get a better taste. "Sour milk." He crinkled his nose. They laughed at his frowning face. James could feel the constant pain in his shoulder dissolving away already and finally disappeared.   
  
The next day, James was sitting in his Muggle Studies class went a third year girl came in their class.   
  
"Professor Garhart?" She said timidly. Professor Garhart lifted her head to see through her glasses, which were used for her reading. "The Headmaster wishes to see James Potter please."   
  
"All right. Mr. Potter, don't wander around after." She responded, going back to her reading.   
  
James walked awkwardly behind the brown haired girl, wondering why Professor Dumbledore wanted to see him. He walked through the door into his office. He was sitting behind his desk. In front of him were two chair, one occupied by Snape. James furrowed his eyebrows and sat down. Professor Dumbledore went straight to business.  
  
"James. Severus here tells me that you were making the Polyjuice Potion." He said grimly.  
  
"What? I…" James realized that he told Snape that he was making the Polyjuice Potion. "Shit." He muttered under his breath.  
  
"What was that, Mr. Potter?" Professor Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows.   
  
"Nothing, sir." James said, still thinking of a way to crawl out of this. He could see Snape smirking out of the corner of his eyes. He growled silently. If he denied that he was making the Polyjuice Potion, he would have to tell him what potion he had been making. There was no practical potion made with the shredded skin of bloomslang.   
  
"Well? Is it true Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore said after the silence.   
  
"Um… Yes sir." James lied. 'At least it's better than him finding out that I'm an unregistered animagus.'   
  
"Well. Tell me, why would you want a Polyjuice Potion?" Professor Dumbledore asked.   
  
"I wanted to play a trick on Sirius. I thought it would be funny if I was him and he saw me." James lied again. 'That doesn't sound like a bad idea…' James thought.   
  
His eyes met Professor Dumbledore's piercing blue ones. The headmaster was gazing at him intently, narrowing his eyes. Snape broke the silence.   
  
"The punishment sir?" He said mildly, not bothering to wipe the smile off his face.   
  
"Oh yes. James, as the Polyjuice Potion is a strictly forbidden potion to make in this school, that's 50 points off Gryffindor and a week of detention." He said gravely.   
  
James swore in his head. 'I hate Snape. I hate Snape. That fucking asshole. He told on me! I hate him. I hate him. I pay him 30 galleons and this is what he does for me! I could tell on him, about the boomslang skin… No, I won't sink to his level.'   
  
"Both of you are dismissed." Professor Dumbledore said mildly, going back to his thick book.   
  
James wanted to beat the crap out of Snape. But this was enough trouble for one day. He walked quickly back to his classroom. He swore he could hear Snape's scornful laugh behind his back.  
  
When he told his friends, they were furious, especially Lily.   
  
"And you just took it?" Lily asked, fuming.   
  
"What else could I do?" James said, trying to reason with Lily.   
  
"I hate that Snape. That stupid git. I can't believe it! You paid him 30 galleons! You shouldn't have bargained with him in the first place James." Lily said.   
  
"It's not a big deal Lily. It's only a week of detention and 50 points. I can make that 50 points up by one Quidditch game. Plus, you sound like my grandmother." James said, sitting down. Since he didn't have a mother, he lived with his grandmother and his dad.   
  
"What is it with you James? Is it your goal to get the most detentions in Hogwarts history?" Lily said, sitting on the couch.   
  
James merely smiled.   
  
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I just thought this would be a good place to leave off. Today chapters in one day... I better get twice the reviews! 


	13. Ch 13: IQC Reception Banquet

In case, you just go to the last chapter when I update, you better read this: I UPLOADED TWO CHAPTERS TODAY! DON'T MISS CHAPTER 12: DETENTION RACE!   
  
... just so you don't get confused and think this chapter goes after chapter 11. Hold on, am I even making any sense?  
  
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It was December 2nd, two days until the 14 schools of the IQC were to arrive. The teachers were getting very annoyed with the constant pranks from the Marauders and Professor McGonagall told them that any prank during the Reception Banquet would cost them 50 points from Gryffindor and James wouldn't be able to play in the first game. This made James furious.   
  
"I'm the captain! I have to play!" He shouted.   
  
"There's a reserve player. Lucious Malfoy, I believe." Professor McGonagall said. She braced herself for his reaction. Everyone knew the hatred between the Marauders and the three Slytherins.   
  
"I'd rather get a thousand detentions than see him play for me." James said through clenched teeth.   
  
"Then don't do any pranks during the Reception Banquet." She said simply and walked away.   
  
James roared in frustration.   
  
The next two days went by very fast. Before everyone's eyes, December fourth, the day when the 14 schools were supposed to come, arrived. Everyone dressed in their cleanest school robes. Lily, James, and the rest of the prefects sat at the head of their tables and the professors and staff stood by the door. Soon, the great wooden door opened and the first school walked in. It was Livingstone Academy. They all had orange and brown uniform. They were followed by Xangho, Beauxton, Renegade, Hooter, Tinhorn, Salem, Berkeley, Denver, Soojin, Berlin, Whaler, Durmstrang and then finally Sierra. The teams sat at the table provided for them and the Headmaster and the teachers walked up to their table. The teachers sat and Professor Dumbledore stood to welcome them.   
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Thank you so much for coming. I wish that your trips were comfortable on the Hogwarts Express." He said. The room buzzed with translators translating what he had said. "I trust you will enjoy your stay at Hogwarts. The prefects will be pleased to answer any questions you have." He said, motioning for the prefects to stand. They stood and sat back down when his hand went down. "Without any more delay, let the feast began." He gave a wave with him wand and the tables filled with various food. There were the regular food and the culturally different food.   
  
"Where do you think Livingstone is?" Lily asked.   
  
"Hmm. I think somewhere in Africa, they're all Africans [I don't want to say Black. I would say African American, but then they're in Britain…]. Plus, I think the school's named for this guy David Livingstone. We studied about him in third year in Muggle Studies." James said.   
  
"I know Salem's in the American east coast and Soojin is in South Korea. Minnie used to go there." Lily said.   
  
"Let's see. Berlin must be Germany. Denver is a city in America, so is Berkeley." Remus said.   
  
"Whaler must be from like the North Pole! Look at how thick their robes are!" Sirius exclaimed, looking at the fur lined leather robes.   
  
"Xangho sounds Chinese and Beauxton sounds French, don't you think?" Minnie said.   
  
"I think Beauxton sounds more Dutch. But then, their robes are really thin. They must be used to warm weather." Lily said.   
  
"Durmstrang sounds Russian, huh? They look like they're from somewhere cold." James said. They all nodded in agreement.   
  
  
"Wow! Look at that guy!" Shay said.   
  
"No! That guy right there at the Soojin table!" Riley said, jumping up and down with excitement in her seat.   
  
"I know him! He used to go out with my friend two years ago." Minnie said.  
  
"I want him! He's mine!" Shay said, pointing at, what looked to Lily, a clump of guys.   
  
"Him? You can have him! I want that guy right there." Riley said, sighing.   
  
"I don't like this James." Sirius said sadly. "They're taking our girls."   
  
"I guess we're not handsome enough." James said, sniffling and pretending to wipe a tear from his eyes.   
  
"Oh my goodness. Look at that guy." Riley gaped, dropping her spoon with a clatter.   
  
There was a tall, tan boy with black hair. He was muscular and his white teeth could be seen from the other side of the room. The creases at the end of his eyes seemed to meet with the corner of his mouth when he smiled. He had a small silver hoop earring on his left ear.   
  
"Where? Who?" Shay said, breaking her gaze with a guy from Berlin.   
  
"He's a Berkeley." Riley said unconsciously. Shay's mouth dropped when she sighted him too.   
  
Sirius was waving his hand in front of Riley's face and she just kept staring at the boy.  
  
"Oh my goodness." She said.  
  
"Well, what'd you expect? These are the best Quidditch players from their schools." Sirius retorted.   
  
"This is going to be so much fun!" Riley said, laughing. "Want to go talk to him?"   
  
"How?" Shay said.   
  
"Hmm… We're going to need Lily's help." Riley said, smiling mischievously.   
  
After Riley explained, Lily was being dragged to the Berkeley table before she could object. Riley gave her an extra final shove.   
  
"Hi! Welcome to Hogwarts!" She said forcing herself to smile. "How was your trip?"   
  
The all-boys team looked at her with a stunned expression etched on their face. None of them knew what to say to her random welcoming.   
  
"Fine, thank you." The boy that Riley and Shay were staring said after a few uncomfortable moments. Lily could hear Shay hissing 'Yes!' behind her. Lily kicked her foot back and smiled.   
  
"I'm Lily Evans. I'm one of the Gryffindor prefects. Gryffindor is one of the four houses we have here at Hogwarts. There are Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor." There were some snickering at the silly sounding names, but Lily held her head up high. "And you are…"  
  
"Kyle Clearman [if you're reading this Kyle, forgive me putting your name here… ;) It's okay. I make you really hot, right?]. I'm the captain." He said. He introduced rest of the team. Their headmaster and tutor were sitting at the end of their table, chatting happily. "And who are these lovely ladies?" He said kindly, smiling his lopsided smile. 'Hmm… He kind of looks like James when he does that.'  
  
"Oh—" Lily said, stepping aside, about to introduce them. She was interrupted by Riley though.   
  
"Riley Garhart! Nice to meet you!" She said breathlessly, shaking his hand. Shay shoved her aside.   
  
"Shayla Fintley. Call me Shay." She said, winking.   
  
"All right, Riley and… Shay." He said laughing.   
  
"I don't think I've been introduced." James' voice rang behind them. He walked through the girls.   
  
"James?" Kyle said, looking flabbergasted. James laughed. "I—Where—You… What the hell are you doing here? I didn't know you were a wizard!"   
  
James laughed. "Your grandmother, my great aunt comes from a looong line of witches and wizards. The Potters. She didn't tell you?"  
  
"No! They said I was the first wizard in their family!" Kyle said.  
  
"Well, I guess not." James said, laughing at Kyle's face.   
  
"Lily, Remember when I told you one of my great aunts married a muggle?" Lily nodded. "This is her daughter's son. I met him in a big family reunion thing."  
  
"You're related to James?" Riley said her eyes wide. Kyle nodded. "Well that explains why you both of you guys are so hot."   
  
  
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I know, not much Lily/James action lately. But I promise you, the next chapter will have LOTS of Lily/James. 


	14. Ch 14: Catching Stars

Oops! I forgot I was supposed to update yesterday! So sorry! Oh well. Here's your chappie with some L/J action. Not the longest, but oh well. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The night before the first game, everyone had a long dinner, excited for the IQC. By 9 pm, everyone went up to their rooms except a few people, including the Marauders, Lily, Shay, and Minnie. They soon got tired too and decided to go to sleep. Before Lily went upstairs to her dorm, James grabbed her.   
  
"Lily, wait for me, I have to get something." He said. Before Lily could respond, James ran in his dorm and came out a second later, apparently carrying nothing.   
  
"Weren't you in there to get something?" Lily asked, confused. He put a gentle finger to her lips.   
  
"Follow me." He whispered, leading her out. She followed, reluctantly. He led her out into the cold night. Lily shivered. James chuckled and drew out a thick cloak from under his own cloak. He put it around her. She sighed thankfully.   
  
"Where you taking me?" She asked curiously.   
  
"Get on." James said, pointing to a hovering broom. It seemed to materialize out of thin air. Lily looked at James, amazed, and saw he was holding a silvery thin piece of cloth. She outreached her hand and felt the cold silky material.   
  
"What is this?" She asked, still touching the incredibly smooth cloth. He handed it to her and she held by the corner of it and it fell like water to her feet. It was a cloak.  
  
"It's an invisibility cloak, a family heirloom." He said, his hand in his pockets.  
  
"Wow. I've read about these." Lily said, folding it and handing it back to James. He pocketed it safely and got on his broom.   
  
"Well, are you going to get on?" He said. Lily got on the broom. They flew over the lake and to the top of the castle. He settled on a slightly sloped roof. There, James got out a blanket and spread it, next to the wall of a tower. He motioned Lily to sit on the blanket and they sat there, looking at the beautiful scenery in front of them.   
  
"Wow. It's beautiful." Lily muttered, looking at the dark lake, mirroring the perfect night sky. The dark sky was velvety black and the stars were twinkling like diamonds. She straddled herself in James's lap and leaned back. He sighed and rested his chin on her head, resting his arms around her.   
  
"I wish I can catch one of those." Lily said, watching a couple of the elusive streaking lights in the sky.   
  
"Someday, I'll chase one and catch it for you." James said. Lily giggled.   
  
"While you're up there, steal a couple of the brightest stars for me." Lily said.   
  
"Of course." He said. Lily sighed.   
  
"Do you miss your mother?" She asked apprehensively.   
  
"Of course I miss her. Sometimes I feel like I miss her too much, I'm not going on with my life like I knew she would want me to. But sometimes I feel like I'm not missing her enough. I get too caught up in things and forget about her. When I do something really good, I can't wait to owl her. But then I remember… she's…" James said, his voice becoming soft. Lily grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly.   
  
"It's okay. She'd be really proud of you right now." She assured him.   
  
"How would you know?"   
  
"Well, you're... perfect. You've got a lot of friends, you're a prefect and a Quidditch captain. You've got girls and you still have one of the highest marks." She said. "Tell me a weakness."   
  
"Hmm..." He said.   
  
"Is it that hard?" Lily joked.   
  
"I have really messy hair. I'm barely passing through in Muggle Studies this year. And I'm really really nervous about the game tomorrow." He finished.   
  
Lily laughed. "That's it?"   
  
"That's all I can think of." He said sheepishly. "Oh, and I'm addicted to pranks." That made Lily laugh.   
  
They stayed quiet for about five minutes.   
  
"So. When's your birthday?" He asked.   
  
"June 1st. When's yours?"   
  
"January 13th."   
  
"Really?" She asked. He nodded. "That's my sister, Petunia's birthday."   
  
"You have a sister?"   
  
"Yeah. She's 21."   
  
"Do you like her?" He asked.   
  
"I love her… but I don't like her. She's kind of mean to me, but she's my sister. Do you get it?" Lily said.   
  
James nodded.   
  
"Why are you doing this?" Lily asked, suddenly.   
  
"I don't know. I just... want to." James said, surprised that she couldn't tell that he liked her by now. "I just want to see you happy."  
  
"I see." She said.   
  
Lily simply sighed and cuddled in his arms. He held her tighter and leaned against the tree. There, James could hear Lily softly breathing in and out thirty minutes later, which told him she was asleep. He picked her up and carried her inside. He went into her dorm and laid her down on her bed and covered her with her blanket.   
  
"Good night Lily." He whispered as he brushed a strand of hair in front of her face. His fingers lingered on her cheek for awhile before he turned away to leave.   
  
"James?" Lily croaked.   
  
"Yeah Lily?" James said, turning around.   
  
"You have a big day tomorrow. Good Luck. I'm your biggest fan." Lily said, lightly chuckling. James smiled and left.   
  
  
  
  
  
I just noticed. There are a lot of talking in this chappie. If you're disappointed that they didn't kiss... oh well. I want them to, you know, get to know each other more. I just don't want things going too fast. 


	15. Ch 15: IQC Begins!

Yayaya! 150 reviews! I'm so happy. Thank you so so so much for reading and reviewing my ficcy. And the reviews are soo nice!   
  
Caz- You like my chapter names? Yes! I'm so happy. I work so hard on them. They're so hard tho1  
  
Mystical Obsession- I'm sorry that Petunia's b-day is same as yours...   
  
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Lily walked up the stands with Remus. It was the first game of the IQC and Hogwarts was playing Xangho. Lily was wearing a hat, mittens, and a scarf, all gold and scarlet. She sat down by Remus, who found Sirius and sat down by him.   
  
"Where's Minnie?" Remus asked.   
  
"She said she's going to sit with her friends from her old school." Lily explained.   
  
"So much for school pride…" Remus muttered. The game was to begin soon and people were still sitting down.   
  
"Do you mind if we sit here?"   
  
Lily looked up and her eyes met a tall skinny boy's hazel green eyes. He continued to stare at her green eyes. 'This is getting really uncomfortable…" Lily thought as she broke her gaze. Behind him were two boys, about his age.   
  
"No, I don't mind." She said, scooting closer to Remus.   
  
"Thank you. What's your name?" He asked, sitting down.   
  
"Lily Evans." Lily said.   
  
"I'm Rocco Castagno. I go to Tinhorn. I can see you go to Hogwarts." He said, his eyes flickering away from her eyes for a moment. Lily studied his face. He had a thin face with messy golden curls piled on his head which was flattened by a Muggle baseball cap. "Hey, aren't you one of those prefects?"  
  
Lily nodded. Just then, Haylee Vance's magnified voice rang throughout the field. Haylee Vance was a Ravenclaw Keeper.   
  
"Welcome to the first game of the IQC! Whooo!" She said excitedly. There was a wild cheer from the crowds and soon everyone quieted down.   
  
"Our referee, Mr. Parson has graciously flown from Norway to make sure our matches are fair. Let's give him a hand!" Everyone cheered wildly once again as the tall lanky man with wild blonde hair flew in. He flew around field and settled in the center.   
  
"Now, presenting the Xangho Quidditch Team! The captain Beater Wanghi Zemin!" She continued to announce the player's names, even though she had quite a difficulty. One by one, the players flew in, wearing their red and black uniforms. "—and J-Jyangu Hu, Seeker!" She stuttered, peering at the list of the player's name.   
  
"Now, what we've, I mean, most of us have been waiting for… The Hogwarts Quidditch Team!" A wild roar rose from the stands. "James Potter, Captain, chaser!" James flew in. Sirius whooped and whipped his robes off. Inside, he had no shirts, but his chest and his arms were painted in scarlet and there was a gold lion, moving and roaring in the center.   
  
"Yeah!" He roared. James almost fell off his broom laughing but the rest of the school screamed with him. The scream was unnaturally high as most of the female population screamed loudest. Lily wasn't one of them because she was laughing at Sirius with Remus and Peter. Some people from the other schools were looking strangely around.   
  
"Sirius, sit down! McGonagall is coming!" Peter said. But it was too late, she had already reached over.   
  
"Mr. Black!" She screamed shrilly. "That is outrageously appalling! How dare you!"   
  
"What? You don't think I'm hot?" He said, trying not to burst out laughing "I know, these packs can be mistaken for flubs from far away. I'm trying to get them even."   
  
This detonated her rage. Professor McGonagall's face burned with rage and a blue vein was popping out on her forehead. "Sirius Black. Put your robe on right this instant or I will send you packing home."   
  
Sirius decided not press her anymore and he quietly put his robes on.   
  
"Follow me." She said her lips into a thin line. They left into the school.   
  
"Well, that was interesting!" Haylee said. "Anyways, where were we… Yes. Quint Trombley, Chaser! Trevor Cooper, Chaser! Shayla Fintley, Beater! Riley Garhart, Beater! Conner Banks, Keeper! And Anson King, Seeker!" The rest of the Quidditch team flew on to the field. They flew a lap around the field and got in their circle. The captains shook their hands and waited for the game to begin. The balls were brought out. The starting whistle blew as the game began.   
  
"And it starts! Potter has possession of the Quaffle. Passed to Cooper who fakes left and passes to Trombley. Trombley scores! Hogwarts 10-0!" The next shot, and about three after that was all blocked by the Xangho keeper. Hogwarts finally managed to get one in. The game went on for another 50 minutes. It was 70-30. The Xangho team was doing badly. But if it wasn't for the keeper, the score would probably have been about 200-30.   
  
"They really suck." Peter commented.   
  
"Don't say that. At least they're fair." Lily said.   
  
"Yeah…" He shrugged.   
  
"Oh! Oh! King is going for the snitch! He's racing! Jyangu is far behind!" Haylee said excitedly. Everyone's eyes turned to the long-haired boy after a twinkling light. It was short before he caught it and the school erupted with applauding and shouting. The teams flew down and shook hands. Strangely, the Xangho team looked still cheerful even they lost by 200 points.   
  
"That was a good game, huh?" Rocco, the boy who had been sitting next to Lily, said.   
  
"Yeah." She half yelled, talking over the uproar from the stands. Soon everyone went down from the stands to congratulate the team. She made her way through the crowd to see Shay and James. She didn't see Shay but she saw James so she shoved herself through.   
  
"James!" Lily yelled laughing.   
  
"Lily!" James came over and hugged her. Lily was a bit surprised first, but returned the hug. 'It feels good.' She thought. "We won! We won!"   
  
Lily laughed. "You played really well." She said.   
  
"Thanks!" James said, hugging her tighter. He finally let go of her. Wanghi, the captain of the Xangho team, walked over and congratulated James.   
  
"Your team is very good. It was amazing. Such an honor to be here and playing here." He said, pronouncing each letter very carefully and slowly. James laughed and gave a friendly pat on the back of Wanghi.   
  
"Your keeper was great!" He said. Wanghi smiled and walked to his own team. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall. I think all the Hogwarts students are supposed to meet there. I have to change and give my 'don't-get-your-hopes-high-but-still-good-job' pep talk." James said.   
  
"All right." Lily said.   
  
"Lily!" Minnie yelled jogging over. She had 'Go Hogwarts!' written on her cheek. 'Remus should see her right now.' Lily thought, remembering that Remus had said Minnie wasn't showing school pride because she was sitting with her friends from Soojin.   
  
"Hey Minnie!" Lily said. They walked to the Great Hall. They heard Gringley's sneering voice behind them.   
  
"So you're hanging out with the Asian bitch now, mudblood."   
  
Minnie froze in her tracks but Lily told her to ignore them and keep going. But she whipped around and slapped Gringley's cheek as hard as she could. The slap echoed through the hall. Lily couldn't tell whether Gringley or Minnie looked madder. Gringley was narrowing his eyes and his lips were curled into a sneer. The finger marks were turning into pink streaks. Minnie was fuming, her eyes opened wide, and she was panting. Gringley growled. The Soojin Quidditch Team walked by that moment. They talked to Minnie. 'Probably asking what's going on.' Lily thought. Minnie talked to them in rapid Korean. One of the girls lunged at Gringley, but the guys held her back. She shouted in fluent English.   
  
"You insult us one more time, and you wish you were never born, you narcissistic bastard!" The team dragged her to their room and Minnie and Lily walked away from the three astounded Slytherins and into the already crowded Great Hall.   
  
"That was… great!" Lily said.   
  
"Thanks. I still can't believe that jerk. How can you just walk away from them? You need to stand up to them Lily. They're all talk. They don't do half of the things they say they do." Minnie said, still furious.   
  
"All right. I'll try to remember that." Lily said, smiling. They sat in the front by Remus and Sirius. "Hi Sirius. What happened to you during the game?"   
  
"McGonagall is making me do detention for the next three days during the games." He said, slumping.   
  
"Oh. That sucks. I would videotape them for you. But you know, electricity doesn't work here." Lily said.   
  
"Videotape… videotape… Oh yeah! I heard about those in Muggle Studies class. Those sound kind of cool." He said, brightening.   
  
"Do you sometimes wish that you were back in the Muggle world? With all the electricucity and stuff?" Remus said, who obviously didn't take Muggle Studies.   
  
"Never." Lily answered flatly, not even thinking about the answer.   
  
"You know, my parents are divorced and my mom's a Muggle. She lives here. So I had a Muggle-ish summer this year. It wasn't too bad. A lot of fascinating stuff." Minnie said.   
  
"Hey!" Shay and Riley chimed running in. Shay hugged Lily.   
  
"You were great out there Shay!" Lily said. "You too, Riley."   
  
"Thanks!" Riley said beaming.   
  
"We won! We won!" Shay chanted, skipping in circles.   
  
"And James almost ruined our mood. Don't get your hopes too high… We beat them by 200!" Riley muttered. They sat down in front of Lily and Minnie.   
  
"Where's James?" Sirius said, noticing the whole Quidditch Team was there, except the captain.   
  
"He'll be here." Shay said absent-mindedly, still chatting about how great the game was. Lily and everyone waited for a few minutes for James to arrive. Everyone was chatting happily. Then James walked in. Everyone cheered wildly for him. He smiled and sat down by Sirius.   
  
"Where were you?" Sirius said.   
  
"I was just chatting with the ref." James said.   
  
"Trying to get on his good side?" Peter noted, nudging him.   
  
"No!" James responded, furrowing his eyebrow, surprised at the idea.   
  
"Just kidding." Peter said disappointedly.   
  
Professor Dumbledore clinked his fork against his goblet for silence. "Now. Now. Settle down." He waited until it was silent.   
  
"I know you, students and staff members, are very happy about our first game. I am happy too, don't get that wrong. But I just wanted to warn not to rub it in the Wangho Quidditch Team. But I have to admit, everyone did a splendid job! James Potter, specifically, scoring 60 points!" He said, clapping. The whole school clapped with him. James turned into a slight shade of pink, but still smiled. "As you all know, today and tomorrow is Hogsmeade weekend. Today, we'll have a special exception to the second year and lower. You may go, since the other schools will be going also, as long as a group of five or less buddy up with a seventh year." An unusually high cheering sounded as the young first and second years cheered. Some seventh years, though, groaned and rolled their eyes. "Also, please note that there will be only one other Hogsmeade weekend after this until the Mistletoe Ball, after the Quidditch Championship is over. There will still be lunch served today. Dinner will be served at the usual 7." He finished, walking down from the podium.   
  
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THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR READING!   
  
**I'm looking for a beta reader for this ficcy... If you're interested, email me at sun_kissed60@hotmail.com!** 


	16. Ch 16: Of Dress Robes, English Lessons, ...

Hey ppls! I watched the State of Union Address by Bush last night... it was pretty funny how the republicans were all clapping and standing up at literally every sentence Bush said. I heard there were like 72 applause breaks over the 59 minute speech. Anyways... here's your chappie! Bon appetite!  
  
lavon-- it never says that James was a seeker in the first book... it does say that in the movie on the plaque thing, but Rowling confirmed that he was a chaser in a interview that he was a chaser  
  
... don't you think it's hilarious how we argue about the small details of something imaginary? [no offense to people who believe harry potter is real] he he he. oh well.   
  
  
  
  
!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!  
  
  
  
Everyone dispersed into their groups and headed for the carriages. Some of the other school's were already in there. Lily, Shay, Riley, and Minnie filed into a half full carriage.   
  
"Hi Lily!" Rocco said, who was sitting in there with his friend.   
  
"Hi Rocco!" Lily answered, praising herself silently for remembering his name. She squeezed by him and his friend while her friends sat across from them. They sat down and about five minutes later the carriages jerked forward.   
  
"Ow!" Lily and Rocco chimed, as their head collided with each other's when the carriage suddenly started moving.   
  
"Sorry." They both muttered. Lily rubbed her head, embarrassed. Her friends in front of her sniggered. Lily shot them a 'I'll get you later' glare and watched the trees slowly pass by. It hasn't snowed yet this year and everything about them had a grayish blue tint to it. In about five minutes, the ride was over and everyone walked into the fresh, but cold air.   
  
"Look, there's Remus." Minnie said, pointing to the Marauders. They walked over.   
  
"So. What are you girls going to do today?" Sirius said, putting his hands in his pockets.   
  
"I think we want to just look around for dress robes." Riley said, looking around her friends. They all nodded and shrugged. "Are you guys going to the joke shop?"   
  
"Yeah. We'll meet you at Three Broomsticks in an hour." Sirius said.   
  
"All right." Minnie said. The girls turned left and went to Gracie's Fashion Robes and the guys walked into Zonko's. Lily, Riley, Shay, and Minnie stepped into the big store. They were greeted by a friendly looking saleswitch with long straight reddish brown hair.   
  
"Hello. Welcome ladies. How are you today?" She said.   
  
"Good."  
  
"Fine." The girls all said.   
  
"Let me guess, you girls are looking for a dress robe for the Mistletoe Ball?" She asked. Before they could even nod, she continued. "A brand new line came in just today. There are the really fashionable sleeveless ones. They sort of look like Muggle dresses, but it's okay. The knee length robes are on a sale today. However, if you prefer classic, we have the standard cut in 32 colors and 7 different kinds of fabrics. Feel free to browse around!" She finished.  
  
The girls nodded, dazed and went off to a random section.   
  
"I don't know if I should get a classic one or one of those new ones… you know, the one that looks like a Muggle dress?" Riley said, feeling a satin standard robe.   
  
"Try both of them on." Lily said. She picked a light blue robe with silver trimming and handed it to her. "Here's your classic one. It'll go with your eyes."   
  
"Oh! You would look really cute in that one!" Shay said, running to the other side of the store and picking up a dark burgundy spaghetti strap one.   
  
"All right. I'll try both of them on." Riley said.   
  
"I'll get some more while you're trying them on." Lily said. She picked up about four more robes. They kept fitting robes on Riley until she chose a classic silky blue grey colored one. They tried about five robes on Shay before finally deciding that a white short robe was the best. Minnie tried on only two before she decided on a light green satin one.   
  
"Your turn Lily!" Minnie said, already picking out some robes.   
  
"I don't think I'm going to the ball." Lily said.   
  
"What? Why? You have to go!" Shay said.   
  
"I don't see the point of going. They're always boring… Plus, I don't have anyone to go with." Lily said.   
  
"Go with Remus!" Riley said. "You're good friends with him."   
  
"No. It... It won't be right. Remember what happened when we went out last year?" Lily said.   
  
"Yeah... You freaked out." Shay said, chuckling.   
  
"What about James or Sirius? You know them pretty well." She said to Lily.  
  
"First of all, I don't know about Sirius. I don't know him that well. I just know him from James and Remus. And also, there are a lot of really pretty girls who want to go with James." Lily said, sitting down on one of the stools.   
  
"Then ask him before they do!" Riley shouted.   
  
"Shhh!" Shay said, eyeing a saleswoman looking in their direction.   
  
"If I ask James, he'll have to say yes. I mean, he's too nice. He probably won't say no to Lindsay!" Lily said, talking about Lindsay Wanky. Lindsay was chubby with brown greasy hair [no offense to fat people. Lindsay has greasy hair like snape… yuck! It's bad enough on a guy].   
  
"True…" They all agreed.   
  
"But what if he really likes you?" Shay asked.   
  
Lily looked at her skeptically and ignored the question.   
  
"I don't want to go to the ball with someone who just said yes to be nice and polite." Lily said.   
  
"So, you'd go if someone asked you?" Shay said, a mischievous smile creeping on her face.   
  
"Yeah… Don't get any ideas there Shay; I have to like them first." Lily said, noticing her sly smile.   
  
"But I really want you to go!" Minnie whined.   
  
"Look, if someone asks me and I don't hate them, I'll go. But you guys have to promise me; don't go around telling guys to ask me. Okay?" Lily waited to get nods from all of them. "Great."   
  
"We can look for a dress robe on the next Hogsmeade trip, the day before the ball." Riley said, getting excited.   
  
"Oh no! Look at the time. We were supposed to meet in the Three Broomsticks fifteen minutes ago!" Minnie said, looking at her watch. They hurried out of the shop after telling the saleswitch to reserve the robes.   
  
They walked out into the frigid but crowded street. They pushed the door of Three Broomsticks open and the bells tied to it jingled. They looked around at the crowded, but convivial café and found the guys sitting at a large window seat. They walked over and sat around the round table.   
  
"Sorry we're late." Lily said.   
  
"We were just so caught up talking about how Lily doesn't—" Shay stopped when Lily kicked her under the table. She stopped abruptly.   
  
"How Lily doesn't…" Sirius said, motioning to go on.   
  
"How I don't like red dress robes." Lily quickly covered.   
  
"I see." Remus said, conspicuously not believing her.   
  
"Yeah…" Shay agreed. "She really liked the black ones though. She said the red one clashed with her hair."   
  
Lily furrowed her eyebrows, confused about where she was going with the conversation. Luckily, Shay stopped there.   
  
"It's okay you guys are a lot little late. We were kind of late too. We just barely got us a table." James said.   
  
"So. Who do you girls want to go with to the Mistletoe Ball?" Sirius asked.   
  
"I'm going with Kyle Clearman." Shay and Riley both chimed.   
  
"No! I saw him first!" Riley said.   
  
"So? He calls me a Shay, which is a nickname!" She countered.   
  
"Dumbledore calls you Shay too!" Riley said. Everyone laughed.   
  
"We'll see who he says yes too. You can't ask until after the last game. Deal?" Riley said.   
  
"Deal. But what if he asks me?" Shay said, excited.   
  
"Oh whatever." Riley said, waving her hand carelessly.   
  
"So." Riley said, smiling. "Who do you want to go with James?"   
  
"I don't know yet." James said, shrugging. "Who do you want to go with Minnie?"   
  
"I'm thinking about asking Josh from Soojin." She said. "What about you Remus?"  
  
"Hmm. I don't really know. The girl I want to go with wants to go with someone else." He said.   
  
"I've set my eyes on Elena Berezhnaya. You know, the exquisite blonde Sierra? She's sitting right there." Sirius said, looking at a soft looking girl across the restaurant.   
  
"You should go ask her right now. Gringley's staring at her too." Riley said, looking at the three Slytherin's table.   
  
"Good idea. I'll do that." Sirius said, getting up.   
  
He weaved between the tables and finally reached the one with girls speaking in a different language. He tapped Elena on the shoulder.   
  
"Hi, Elena?" He said.   
  
"Yous?" She said, in thick accent.   
  
"I'm Sirius." He started.   
  
"I'm soowy. My Eeglash bery pore. Twenslatore?" Elena said, motioning to a boy sitting a different table. Sirius shook his head quickly.   
  
"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" Sirius said, loud and clearly.   
  
"Umm… Soore! I doon't know yoo. Dat eez kay. Yoo halp me Eenglash." She said, slowly.   
  
"Want lessons?" He said, getting excited.   
  
Elena nodded gladly.   
  
"How about tomorrow at seven in the library?" He said.   
  
"Yous! Good!" She said, flashing him smile. He gave her a thumbs up and went back to his seat.   
  
"I did it! I get to give her English lessons too!" He said, excitedly.   
  
"All right!" James said, giving Sirius a high-five. "So, you didn't tell us who you want to go with Lily." He said.   
  
"I'm not sure." Lily said. 'I want to go with you.' She thought.   
  
Their food arrived and they ate, talking about stuff. They finished eating and left Three Broomsticks.   
  
"Let's go to… Honeydukes!" Riley said.   
  
"All right!" Peter said. He led the group into the packed candy store. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter went to the Unusual Candies section while the rest went to the chocolate section.   
  
"Oi, Lily!" James shouted across the store, he weaved himself through. "Look what I found!" He held out a white chocolate lily.   
  
Lily laughed.   
  
"I'll buy it for you." He said. Before she could reply, he went to the counter and paid three sickles for it. "Here." He handed it to her.   
  
"Thank you James." She said, taking the chocolate lily. Everyone paid for their candy and walked outside.   
  
"It's getting so cold." Minnie said, shivering.   
  
"Looks like it'll snow tonight." Remus said, looking at the troubled sky.   
  
"Yeah…" They agreed.   
  
"Did you guys get your dress robes?" Riley asked.   
  
"I have one from home." Peter said.   
  
"Same here." James said.   
  
"We're going to get ours later." Sirius said, pointing to Remus. He nodded. Sirius checked his watch. "The next ride should be here in about five minutes. Do you just want to go back? It's only like 2."   
  
Some shrugged but most of them agreed.   
  
"All right." He said.   
  
The carriages came and they rode to Hogwarts.   
!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!^^~~!!  
  
DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! again, i would like to thank for the reviews... they're sooo sweet! 


	17. Ch 17: Taking a Ride

YAY! FINALS ARE OVER! I wasn't going to update until Valentine's day, but I couldn't wait to get those reviews!!! he he he. DOUBLE DOSE!!. Hope you enjoy!  
  
  
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The carriages came and they rode to Hogwarts. When they arrived there, the Marauders decided work on a new prank and Lily and Minnie decided to work on their weekend homework. Shay and Riley went outside to practice Quidditch by themselves. They were back in about two hours, flustered with the cold wind, and joined Lily and Minnie to work on their homework. Lily and Minnie finished with their Transfiguration and DADA homework by the time the guys came in. Minnie decided to go to the Soojin room and talk with her old friends.   
  
"Hey Lily, want to go outside for a little while?" James asked.   
  
"Sure." She said, not having anything to do.   
  
They walked out into the hall. The sharp sunlight burned through a bank of windows and people were swarming out from a fleet of carriages outside. They walked out onto the other side of the school, where the Quidditch field was.   
  
"So Lily. Who do you really want to go to the Mistletoe Ball with?" He asked, hoping to hear, 'I want to go with you James.'  
  
"I don't have a particular someone in mind at the moment." Lily said pointedly.   
  
"Oh." He said. The 'oh' was as round and buoyant as a bubble. "Well, um, same here."   
  
'Damn it. I want to go with him… I don't have a chance. He'll never ask me. Some stupid slut will ask him first and he'll say yes to her.' She thought. Another voice popped in her head. 'Then you ask him!' 'No way. I don't want to ask him! He probably doesn't even like me.' She fought in her head.   
  
"Are you looking forward to it though?" He asked.   
  
"Not really. I mean, it's not like I don't want to go. I never really have fun at balls." She responded.   
  
"So are you going to go?" James said hopefully.   
  
"I guess I'll go if someone asks me." Lily said slowly. 'Gosh. Can you be more obvious…' She thought.   
  
"Hmm…" James said, stopping and leaning on one of the Quidditch goal posts. He brushed the green grass with the bottom of his foot and put his hands in his pocket. He gazed into the grey atmosphere.   
  
"Tell me. Why do you like Quidditch?" Lily asked out of curiosity.   
  
"It's fun. The excitement." He said simply. He felt around in his pocket and pulled out a chocolate frog. He offered it.   
  
Lily shook her head and James instead unwrapped it and popped it his mouth. He sucked on the chocolate and continued.   
  
"It's like the only good magic sport you know. There are no other good ones." He finished.   
  
"I see." Lily said, walking in a circle.   
  
"Hey! I just got the greatest idea!" He shouted, making Lily jump. He swallowed the rest of his chocolate frog before continuing. "Have you ever ridden on a stag?"   
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily and James barged into the quiet common room, laughing out loud. Lily's usually neat straight red auburn hair now had odd assortments of burrs and leaves in it and James was panting with a pink tinge in his cheeks.   
  
"Wow. Looks like you guys had a… wild time." Sirius said, raising his eyebrows.   
  
Lily stopped laughing and frowned at him.   
  
"I meant. I mean, I didn't mean what you though I meant." He recovered quickly, confused about the way he said it.   
  
"Sure." She said sitting down next to Shay.   
  
"Where were you guys?" She asked.   
  
"Oh, just out." Lily said. "Are you done with homework yet?"   
  
"Of course. It's been," Shay said, checking her watch. "Like three hours since you left. It's almost dinner already."   
  
"Oh!" Lily said. "I'm going to wash up." She said running upstairs.   
  
"Jeez James. What'd you do to her?" Sirius said.   
  
"I gave her a ride." James said.   
  
"YOU WHAT!" Remus yelled, his eyes wide.   
  
"No! No!" James said, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. "You know, I let her ride me…"   
  
Remus, Sirius, and Peter raised their eyebrows and leaned forward.   
  
"Gosh. How can I put this?" James said, cocking his head. "You know, stag, ride like horse?" He said.   
  
"Oh!" Remus said relieved.   
  
"We thought you meant, you know—" Sirius said.   
  
"Yeah, yeah. I know." James cut in. No matter how much he liked Lily, he knew that Lily would never have sex until marriage and didn't want to push that.   
  
Lily ran upstairs and went into her dorm room. She changed her dirty blouse into a fresh white one and walked up to her long narrow mirror. She grabbed her brush and brushed the tangles and little twigs out of her hair. Soon it was in its usual neat straight form. She vigorously scrubbed her face. She put her hand in her make up bag, but drew it out, deciding she didn't want to put any make up on. She grabbed her robe before rushing out and joining the others.   
  
~*~  
  
"There will be two games today Lily. They're Whaler vs. Livingstone and Soojin vs. Denver. Are you going to any of them?" James asked during breakfast the next day.   
  
"I don't know. I guess I'll go to Soojin vs. Denver." She replied, buttering her biscuit.   
  
"All right. I was thinking about going to that one too. I heard Soojin's pretty good." James said, stuffing a piece of bagel in his mouth. "Which one are you guys coming to?"   
  
"Soojin vs. Denver." Remus and Peter said.   
  
"I show school spirit! And this is how McGonagall praise me! Detention!" Sirius complained, attacking his pancake with hard stabs with his fork. A sausage rolled under and flew out of the plate into Lily's hair. It was dripping with maple syrup.   
  
"Eww." She whined, lifting a strand of hair covered in sticky syrup. She tried to wipe it off with a napkin.   
  
"Sorry." Sirius said. "Here." He squirted some water onto his napkin and wiped it out of her hair.   
  
"Thanks." Lily muttered. "I'm going to go to the library and try to get the rest of my homework done." She said, collecting her books.   
  
"I'll come with you." Minnie said, following her. "I have to start on my Divination essay."   
  
"I'll see you in an hour. Me and my friends are going to do something." Remus said.   
  
Minnie and Lily walked slowly to the library, taking the long way around the castle where they could watch the sun beams of each new morning enter the hallway. It was such a bright morning. Lily watched the silent beams of light radiate in the colorful dust motes she had stirred up.   
  
"Who do you think will win the Championships?" Lily asked.   
  
"Hmm… I was thinking about Soojin but now I'm leaning more toward Hogwarts. I was impressed by how they played yesterday. But then it depends on how Soojin plays this afternoon." She said. "How's it going with the Slytherins? Are they still pushing you around?"   
  
"No, not really. They've been kind of ignoring me. I hope they forgot about me. I'm so glad." Lily chuckled to herself. "But I'm regretting that I never really stood up for myself. It was always James, Remus, you or Shay who stood up for me. Thanks."   
  
"You're welcome." Minnie replied. "You like James, don't you?"   
  
"Um, why?" Lily said nervously.   
  
"Just a random guess." She said. "and noticing you were staring at him the whole Quidditch game yesterday. I was sitting on top of the stands."  
  
"Oh well. What does it matter? He doesn't like me back." Lily said, kicking a loose pebble.   
  
"How do you know?" Minnie asked.   
  
"Well, he doesn't show any signs of liking me." Lily said.   
  
"He's really nice to you. You guys spend a lot of time together." Minnie said.   
  
"He's nice to everyone. And we're both prefects, that's why we spend a lot of time together." Lily explained.   
  
"What about yesterday? Remus told me about it." Minnie said, talking about the afternoon.   
  
Lily shrugged as they stepped into the library. They chose a table and started to work on their homework. A few minutes later, Shay and Riley came by, sat down for 10 minutes, decided that they didn't want to do homework, and left. An hour later, they were joined by James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. However, Remus, Peter, Lily, and Minnie were the only ones doing their homework. James and Sirius were poring over a book called "Hilarious, Heinous Hexes". As nice and friendly as James and Sirius could get, they were mean when it came to pranks.   
  
"James, shouldn't you do any of weekend homework? You worked only a little bit after dinner last night." Lily said, scowling at his blank parchment which had the title 'Social Hierarchy of Modern Muggle Society'.   
  
"Awww. Don't make a fuss Lily. Don't worry. It's due on Tuesday, the day after tomorrow." He said, smiling his lop-sided smile.   
  
"What's the length requirement?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows.   
  
"Uh, just about three feet." James said. Lily crossed her arm and sighed loudly. "Fine. I'll work on it tonight after the game. I promise." Lily gave an approving smile and returned to her work.   
  
James and Sirius soon left after taking some notes from their book, whispering excitedly. Shay and Riley came back to work. Lily and Minnie got done before all of them and went to the common room to read by the fireplace. The Quidditch game was going to be about half an hour after lunch. Soon enough, lunch came and passed.   
  
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I haven't done these in a long time...   
  
DISCLAIMER-- I don't own anything you recognize, unless you like have a deja vu. But anyways, the Ms. Genius Rowling owns all the Harry Potter magical wonderful world. But I own the plot, some of the characters [if you really care about this, email me and I'll give you a detailed list of my characters], and the IQC. 


	18. Ch 18: Can You Say JEALOUS?

REMEMBER! THIS WAS A DOUBLE DOSE! SO DON'T MISS OUT CH 17: TAKING A RIDE!!!   
  
  
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Lily, Shay, Minnie, Riley, and the Marauders went up to the stands which weren't full, unlike the previous day. They dressed in their casual cloaks and sat down in the middle of the top stand, where the commentator was. The game began soon enough.   
  
"This doesn't seem like a normal Quidditch game." Peter said.   
  
"Yeah. Probably because it's not so packed." James said, watching the game intently. Into thirty minutes, the Soojin team and the Denver team were tied 210-210. "Gee, they're both really good!" He said worriedly.   
  
The both teams seemed to be everywhere at once. When the Quaffle knocked out of the Soojin Chaser's hands, it dropped and out of nowhere, it seemed like, a Denver chaser popped into the air and had possession of the Quaffle. However, the same chaser did a dive well as a Seeker and knocked the Quaffle out, then another Soojin Chaser swooped down and threw it into one of the goals from the middle of the field when the Keeper was dodging a Bludger. Both of the team seemed to be telepathic. A move was blocked even before it was taken into action and every single play was well coordinated.   
  
The Seekers were watching the sight before them, searching for the precious tiny golden Snitch. But they weren't the first ones to see it. Lily noticed it, fluttering precariously, hiding from the hawkeye's view, behind the one of the stand. The stand was blocking the view, but it was in plain sight from the stand that Lily was in.   
  
"James, look! I see the Snitch!" Lily whispered excitedly, pointing at the Snitch.   
  
"Lily… I really need to concentrate on the game. We need to think of some defense for these teams." James said, taking notes down.   
  
"James! I'm not lying!" Lily said, tugging at the end of his robe like a little kid.   
  
"All right!" He said, diverting his eyes from the game for a second to look behind the stand next to them. He just glanced and went back to the game. "Woah!" He yelled, his eyes wide and now staring at the Snitch fluttering by the tall stand, camouflaged by the gold color of the Gryffindor stand. Soon enough, everyone in that stand noticed it and it wasn't long enough before commenter went hysterics.  
  
"THE SNITCH! THE SNITCH! IT'S THE SNITCH! FOLKS! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE! THE SNITCH! AND THE SEEKERS DIDN'T SEE IT!" Haylee shouted, leaning over the stand and pointing.   
  
The spectators, also the players, were all focused on the two streaking blurs. Several people, including James, were standing up in excitement.   
  
The seekers were leaning forward, trying to get the most speed that it looked like they were almost lying on their brooms. Their faces were both etched with determination. The two were just tenth of a second away from the Snitch when it buzzed up, straight toward the sky. The Denver Seeker swerved up, narrowly missing the wooden side. But the Soojin Seeker jumped off the broom, just after directing it to swerve to the side. His trembling outstretched fingered closed around one of the frail wings.   
  
"Josh!" Minnie screamed, standing up and watching with horror the free falling boy. Then, James whipped his wand out and cried out 'Lagartenate!' The air around Josh seemed to be like thick cream. His eyes went wide slowly and he slowly turned around in the air. Everyone watched in silence as he landed softly like a feather.  
  
Everyone cheered as he rose up normally and held up the snitch. His team came down to congratulate him. Minnie shrieked and cried, "Thank you! Thank you! You saved his life, James! Thank you so much!" She whipped around and kissed him on his cheek. Then she raced down to the playing field.   
  
When Minnie kissed James, Lily suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. She gripped the edge of her seat and could feel her body tense. 'What are you doing! Minnie's your friend!'   
  
"Good eye Lily!" James said, grinning his lop-sided smile.   
  
"Thanks." Lily said, relaxing. They went down and into the school. They were met by Rocco.   
  
"Hi Lily." He said.   
  
"Hi Rocco. Good game." She said. He was the Beater for the Denver Quidditch team.  
  
"Say Lily. Will you give me a tour of Hogwarts?" He asked.   
  
"Sure!" She said. "I'll see you later James."  
  
"Whatever." James shrugged, put his hands in his pocket and walked off.   
  
"All right. We'll start with the towers…" Lily trailed off, walking around the school. They were finished in about an hour and a half in front of the Great Hall where dinner was just starting.   
  
"Thanks Lily. That was really helpful. Now I wouldn't get lost every morning." He said.   
  
"You're welcome Rocco." Lily said, laughing.   
  
"I'll see you tomorrow maybe." He said, walking to his school's table.   
  
"Bye!" Lily said, before leaving to the Gryffindor table. She sat down by Remus and Minnie.   
  
"Where were you?" Minnie asked.   
  
"I was giving one of the players a tour of the school. Prefect business." Lily said.   
  
James snorted very loudly into his soup. "Are you sure that's all you did?"   
  
"What?" Lily asked, offended.   
  
"He's from another school." James said.   
  
"Which is why he needed a guide of the school. We're supposed to be hospitable." Lily said hotly.   
  
"Hmph. Hospitable. You can at least flirt and kiss him all you want when the IQC is over." He said.   
  
Lily's mouth dropped open at what he said. She was speechless at what he said. Instead of retorting with all the insults that she could've shot back at him running through her mind, she rose and almost stomped to the Denver table. She harshly poked Rocco.   
  
"Hi Rocco? Want to come somewhere with me?" She asked as politely as she could in her temper.   
  
"Uhh…" He looked at his half eaten plate and back up at her.   
  
"Come eat in the kitchen with me." Lily said, glaring at James, who was glaring at her back.   
  
"Okay." Rocco responded slowly, rising. Lily grabbed his hand and left the Great Hall. "Is something wrong Lily?"   
  
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong with me. But James' is being a jerk." She said, stopping in front of a painting of a bowl of fruits. She tickled the pear until the painting swung open.   
  
Three house elves scurried forward. "May we help you miss?" They said enthusiastically. "And mister?" They added reluctantly looking at his Denver robes, not Hogwarts.   
  
"Yes. Can we just have some supper please?" She said.   
  
"Of course." One of the house elves snapped its long gnarly fingers and a team of elves scurried forward, carrying a table and two chairs. They were shortly followed by two steaks, rolls, butter, steamed vegetables, and mashed potato. Lily and Rocco sat down and ate.   
  
"Mmm. I think this is better than the food they serve up there!" He said, taking a bite of the juicy steak.   
  
"I have to admit, our heating spell is not perfect. The food loses its strong taste and some heat on the way onto the tables." A perky elf said.   
  
"Hmm." Lily said, nodding. "Have you tried the Bubble Charm? It creates a protective bubble around the food and keeps the heat and the smell in."   
  
"Nice suggestion miss. I'll report that to our head chef." The elf said, scurrying into the busy kitchen.   
  
About an hour later, Lily and Rocco had finished their slice of pecan pie. They said bye to each other and left into their rooms/dorms.   
  
Lily sighed as she walked into the Common Room, which was bustling with Gryffindors, playing various games and talking. She went up to her room and grabbed a book, came down, and plopped down in a love seat facing the warm fire. She was interrupted fifteen minute later by a male voice.   
  
"Lily?"   
  
"Yeah?" She said, not looking up from her book. She finished the sentence and looked up and was met by James' warm grayish brown eyes.   
  
"I'm sorry about what happened during dinner." James said. "I was too caught up in Quidditch and didn't think about our duties as a prefect. Also, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."   
  
Lily sighed. "It's all right."   
  
He sat down by her and rested his feet on a table.   
  
"So. Where did you go?" James asked out of curiosity.   
  
"Oh. We just went to the kitchen. Ate dinner." Lily said.   
  
"I see. You know where the kitchen is?"   
  
"Remus told me." Lily said.   
  
"Oh. Well, I got to go. I'm supposed to meet with Sirius in about five minutes." He said.   
  
"Okay." Lily said. James left and she grabbed her book off the table and started to read it, for the fifth time.   
  
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Well, anyways, I'll see you later then! Hold on, I don't actually see you guys. So, um, I'll update later then! 


	19. Ch 19: Hot Tears

Sorry for the delay... you know, ff.net wasn't working for the last couple of days. I just noticed, my chapter's are really short. So, I'm going to make my chapters longer from now on.   
  
  
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Lily was lying on the couch, reading a book, and James was sitting on the other end, had a coffee table drawn, and was working on his homework. It was already eight in the evening.   
  
"How are you going with your essay James?" Lily asked, looking up from her book.   
  
"Bad. I still have," He said, measuring his essay. "two feet and three inches left. Damn it! This is so long!"  
  
"I told you that you should've started on it sooner. You promised to work on it last night after the game. I don't really think an inch is really working on it." Lily said mildly.   
  
James ignored her and continued to work. Thirty minutes later, Sirius burst in.   
  
"James! You have to come here! This is the perfect moment to play that prank on Snape!" Sirius shouted breathlessly.   
  
"Uh… I have to finish my essay. Sorry, later." James said, reluctantly, almost forcing himself to say it. Even though Lily was pretending not to care, James could see her glancing over her thick novel.   
  
"All right." Sirius said, leaving the Common Room.   
  
"Nice." Lily said simply, not looking over her novel anymore.   
  
James let out a groan in frustration and went back to working on his essay.   
  
An hour passed, two hours, three hours… It was midnight when James got done with his essay.   
  
"Done!" He yelled.   
  
"Great! I guess that wasn't so bad. Why did you say it was going to take you like five hours?" Lily said, yawning.   
  
"Because I have another essay to write." James said, groaning.   
  
"Oh my goodness." Lily said, shaking her head.   
  
"You can go to sleep. You don't have to stay up with me." James said, noticing her fifth yawn.   
  
"Oh well. I think I'll just read my Charms book." Lily said, taking out a thick blue book and laying on the couch.   
  
"Little bit of light reading eh?" James said, chuckling.   
  
"Shut up. I'm not the procrastinator." Lily said.   
  
James worked about an hour more before he finally finished his homework.   
  
"I'm done Lily." He stated proudly. He waited for a response but only heard the crackling of the fire and her soft breathing. He walked over and watched her sleep, her thick book on her chest, rising up and down with her breathing.   
  
"Lily." He whispered, lightly shaking her.   
  
"Are you done?" She said groggily.   
  
"Yup." He said, showing her his two essays.   
  
"Good. Now let me sleep." Lily said, not realizing she was in the Common room. James softly groaned and lifted her up. He walked up the stairs, hoping not to trip.   
  
"There we go." He whispered, laying her down on her bed. He stood by for a few seconds, expecting her to stir and wake up. He sighed and went back to the Common room to clean up. Then he went to sleep, his dreams filled with Lily.   
  
~*~  
  
"Sarah Spock is going to ask James Potter to the Mistletoe Ball."   
  
Lily heard Bertha whisper around the Great Hall. Bertha was a thin, scrawny girl with straight dark brown hair. She had an incredible memory for remembering little details, especially rumors. Sarah was a very pretty Slytherin prefect. She had straight long blonde hair and aqua blue eyes. [remember her? James' ex-girlfriend]  
  
Lily didn't know what to think about this new rumor. 'Maybe Shay's right. Maybe I should ask James.' She knew she shouldn't be worrying so much over a silly rumor, but it didn't seem so lightweight when it came to James.   
  
The rest of the day went by slowly, while Lily was pondering if she should ask James to the ball or not. Finally during Arithmancy, she was determined to ask him. After a late prefect meeting, Lily and James were walking down a corridor. Lily garnered her courage and opened her mouth, just to ask him when a female voice interrupted her.   
  
"I haven't seen you lately James. Ever since we broke up." It was Sarah's falsetto voice.   
  
"Well, we're both really busy." James said good-naturedly.   
  
"Sirius wasn't right for me. I miss you sweetheart."   
  
Lily frowned at what she said. Sarah's voice was sweet and sugary, too sweet. She stepped in front of James. Lily didn't know what to do. 'Should I just go on? Should I wait for him?' Her question was answered by Sarah.   
  
"Um… I need to talk to James privately." She said. She smiled falsely and said, "Bye!"  
  
Lily huffed and looked at James, who was looking too confused to say anything. Lily rolled her eyes and walked away but couldn't resist the urge to stop when she turned around a corner. She leaned around to see what was happening. The two prefects were illuminated by the soft moon light and Lily was covered under the dark shadow of a statue. She could see Sarah now nudging very close to him. She was breathing on his neck and she whispered something, slightly nibbling his ear. Then she wrapped her arms around him and massaged his shoulders. Lily couldn't stand it anymore. She walked quickly without stopping all the way into her comfortable bed. She changed into her cream colored pajamas and crawled under the covers and shut her eyes, hoping to fall into a dreamless sleep. But no, she dreamed of James and Sarah kissing.   
  
~*~  
  
The next morning, Lily sluggishly rolled around in her bed. She took a shower, got changed and walked down the stairs to eat breakfast. She stopped when she saw James and Sirius, facing the fire, away from her. Then she remembered what happened last night.   
  
"I really want to go to the ball with her." She heard James say. Lily could see her knuckles going white as she gripped the handle of the stairs. "I really like her. She's fun, smart, and beautiful. She's the only one I like these days. She's the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think of before I go to sleep." Lily bit her bottom lip, and could taste the salty blood, which she ignored. She closed her eyes, hoping that her free falling tears would stop. She shakily walked back to her dorm and flung herself on the bed.   
  
In the common room, James and Sirius were still talking, not noticing Lily shutting herself in her dorm.   
  
"You've never really been serious about a girl, James." Sirius said.   
  
"I know. But she's really different. I truly like Lily Evans."   
  
~*~   
  
After she flung herself on her bed, Lily blinked and felt her tears soak into the cotton pillowcase. 'I knew James always liked Sarah. Now he's going to the ball with her! You're crying too much over James. Let it go Lily. Don't let him control your life. You're going head over heels just for a silly ball. You can always go with someone else.' She rose back up. She washed her face and went down to breakfast.   
  
The day went by slowly. Lily tried to avoid James and he tried to avoid Sarah, who had asked him to the ball, but didn't get an answer yet. There was a Quidditch game after dinner and Lily decided to stay inside, while James went with the Quidditch team. She was walking to her Common room from the Great Hall when she heard Rocco's voice.   
  
"Hey Lily!" He said, jogging over.   
  
"Hi Rocco." She responded.   
  
"Why aren't you at the game?" He asked.   
  
"I'm not really interested in Quidditch." She answered.   
  
"I see." He said. He looked at the ground, shuffling his feet. "Say Lily. Are you going to the ball with anyone?"   
  
"No." She answered, unaware of the question that was going to pop up next.   
  
"Well, I'm not going with anyone either. Do you want to go with me?" He asked hopefully.   
  
"Really?" Lily asked, not believing what she had just heard.   
  
"Yeah." He said.   
  
"Sure." Lily answered.   
  
"Great!" He said enthusiastically. "Well, um, if you're not going to go to the game… I'll see you tomorrow then."  
  
"Bye." Lily said, weakly before walking into the nearly empty Common Room.   
  
~*~   
  
"What? Lily's going to the ball with that Tinhorn kid?" James asked, hoping this was some stupid joke.   
  
"Yeah. She told me this morning. He asked her yesterday." Remus said.   
  
"Why? Did you want to go with her?" Remus asked.   
  
"No. Just a little. Maybe. Kind of. Yes. I was dying to." He said, through gritted teeth. "Damn it! She knew that I liked her! She knew that I wanted to ask her! Why! Why!" James kicked the Quaffle, which lay in front of him. It soared through the sky and landed on the other side of the Quidditch Pitch.   
  
"Well, she thought that Sarah—" Remus tried to explain.   
  
"That's it! I'll just go with Sarah. She wants to go with me." He said, storming off to the school.   
  
"James!" Remus shouted. But he paid no heed to him.   
  
James walked down a several set of stairs and into the hall with cold dark dungeons. He stood in front of the entrance Slytherin Common room. He stood there, realizing he didn't know the password. Luckily, a group of giggling first years walked out. They stopped giggling at the sight of James, a Gryffindor, a Marauder, in summary, Slytherin's great enemy.   
  
"Can you get Sarah Spock?" He said coldly.   
  
"Okay." They returned to their Common room. Soon, the stony door conceiled in the bare damp stone wall opened again and Sarah walked out smugly.   
  
"Yes?" She said, a smile flickering from her lips. James led her into an empty classroom and closed the door behind him.   
  
"Do you still want to go to the ball with me?" He asked.   
  
"Well…" She said, twirling a strand of hair and leaning against the wall. She didn't want to make it too easy. "I was pretty hurt on Sunday when you never gave me an answer. You'll need to make it up somehow, you know."  
  
He knew exactly what she was asking for. He leaned in and kissed her. She was just starting to run her fingers through his hair when he abruptly stopped.   
  
"There. I'm sorry, okay? I just had to think it over. I was worried what the school might think if a Gryffindor prefect went to the Mistletoe ball with a Slytherin prefect." He lied.   
  
Sarah laughed. "You worry too much James. So are you going to ask me or what?"   
  
James gulped and took her hand. "Will you go to the Mistletoe ball with me?"  
  
~*~  
  
The score was 190-230. Tinhorn was in lead. Hogwarts was only shortly behind. Lily didn't know who to cheer for, her date for the ball or her school. So instead of wearing the Gryffindor colors, she wore her regular black robes with a white scarf and a white hat. Sirius was back in the stands, but was kept under a close watch by Professor McGonagall.   
  
"Come on James!" He shouted, supporting his best friend. "Yeah! Go James!"   
  
Rocco was a keeper and he blocked James' hands shot. Lily smiled outside but was sympathetic when James looked so disappointed. However when Rocco was waving at Lily, this distracted him and Quint Trombley, a Gryffindor Chaser had scored on him. Lily couldn't help but laugh at this.   
  
"Oh! Are you laughing at your date?" Sirius teased.   
  
"Shut up. Look, James has the Quaffle." Lily said.   
  
Twenty minutes later, Hogwarts caught up and were in the lead. It was 240-290 and it had started to rain.   
  
"Damn. It's December and it's raining. I hate rain." Sirius said, frowning at the sky. As if the sky seemed to reply, it turned into sleet.   
  
"Thanks a lot Sirius." Lily said, covering her head with a raincoat she brought. She spread it so that it covered her, Remus, Sirius, and Peter's head. They were all huddled together beneath the lavender long raincoat. A few people began to walk back to the building but most of Hogwarts stayed.   
  
The game went for another hour and the Snitch no where to be seen. By this time, only half of the crowds were filled.   
  
"I really really want to go inside. It's freezing!" Peter whined.   
  
"We have to support Prongs. He looks worse than you!" Sirius said.   
  
James' robes were muddy and soaked and he had bright pink tinges in his cheeks and blue lips. Even though everyone else's hair was flattened by the sleet, his were still sticking out at odd angles. It seemed like everyone was getting tired of this game. The seekers seemed to going crazy, crashing into an innocent first year Hufflepuff's gold watch, thinking it was a Snitch. She had to be carried into the Hospital wing. They both seemed to be twitching every time they saw something shiny. The energy of all the players seemed to die out and they were all shivering.   
  
Lily sighed. "I have better things to do right now…" She muttered. Just then, a bludger smashed into James' side, causing him to spiral in air. Everyone stared as he clutched his ribs and landed safely. Lily stood up and looked worriedly at James, who was now lying on the ground, in midst of all his teammates. Sarah rushed out of her stands, running daintily across the wet grass. Lily stiffened. The game was paused and Madame Monzingo rushed out into the field. She did several tests on him. She signaled to Hayley, the commentator.   
  
"It seems like a Bludger hit Potter's side. Madame Mozingo reports that he has two broken ribs and a severe bruise. Will Malfoy substitute for him? I do not know. He is the captain and will make the decision…" Hayley said. Soon, she continued. "He is saying… No! He will continue to play! Malfoy looks quite furious there!"   
  
Malfoy was shouting at James. Some swear words could be heard from the stands. Dumbledore stood up and walked toward the Pitch. He seemed to be trying to calm down James, but was obviously unsuccessful.   
  
"Dumbledore has overruled the decision! Malfoy is substituting Potter!" Hayley said.   
  
The game continued and James was sulking as he watched the game, wincing every three seconds.   
  
"Shouldn't James be in the Hospital wing?" Lily asked, worried.   
  
"Knowing him, he probably put up a fight about Malfoy playing for him. They probably let him at least stay and watch the rest of the game." Sirius said.   
  
Sarah was stroking James' arm and held onto his hand. She kissed it occasionally. Lily smirked when James just ignored and focused on the game.   
  
Malfoy wasn't bad. Then score was now 410-520, Hogwarts in lead. Suddenly, the two Seekers were crazily racing for the Snitch. Their determination on their face was almost animal-like.   
  
"Please… Please…" Lily pleaded to no one that they would catch the Snitch and the game would be over.   
  
Her wish came true when the Tinhorn Seeker grabbed the Snitch mirthlessly. The whole Tinhorn team cheered loudly and came down.   
  
"The game is finally over! Final score is 560-520. Tinhorn wins! This game was… let's see. Holy Cow! 3 hours and 42 minutes!" Hayley said.   
  
Lily could see James walking awkwardly, clutching his side toward his team in the center of the field where they were congratulating the Tinhorn team. It was hard to see the pain that was previously written in his face under the disappointment.   
  
~*~   
  
"Sorry about the loss James." Lily said stiffly in the warm Common room, which was filled with the smell of hot chocolate as almost the whole Gryffindor were in there, talking sadly about the game.   
  
James jumped at her voice. "Oh. Thanks for the sympathy." Before he could stop himself, he added the last part. "Shouldn't you be with Rocco? Congratulating him?"   
  
Lily narrowed her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, I am in Gryffindor too. At least I'm not being hypocritical and going with a Slytherin when you told me it's your life goal to put them in misery forever." She snapped.   
  
Their friends stopped talking and looked at them nervously.   
  
"Who said I wanted to put the Slytherins in misery forever. I like Sarah. I would do anything for her." He asked, glaring at her.   
  
"When Gringley made me take of Twills." Lily said, her downcast eyes not matching her icy voice.   
  
"Well, you're being a baby Lily. You just can't take care of yourself. Now you're having Rocco take care of you then?" James said.  
  
Lily just stared at him. Her big green eyes were expressionless. She blinked, but no tears came. She just slowly walked up stairs to her own dorm. Then she slowly closed the door and it finally closed with a click.   
  
"Harsh. That was harsh." Sirius said, shaking his head.   
  
  
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Thanks for the 200 reviews! I was soo happy! 


	20. Ch 20: I'm Sorry Lily

Here's your chappie! I might be updating a little less often now. I'm trying to write longer chapters. Anyways... Bon Appetite!  
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Lily sat on her bed, trying to take in what James just said. No tears dropped from her eyes, as she expected. She just sat there, not thinking. The door knocked and it creaked open uncertainly. Remus and Shay walked in.   
  
"Lily?" Remus said.   
  
"Yeah?" She barely whispered, staring into space.   
  
"You okay?" He said quietly back. He and Shay kneeled in front of her. They were both searching Lily's face, looking for any sign of feeling.   
  
"Did he mean it?" Lily asked.   
  
"No! Don't listen to that scumbag Lily! He's a son of a bitch—" Shay said indignantly.   
  
Remus raised his eyebrows at her. "Be quiet Shay. I admit, James did make a mistake, but he's not a bad guy. I know why he was so mad at you."   
  
"What did Lily do!" Shay half shouted.   
  
"He's jealous that she's going to the ball with Rocco. He really wanted to go with her…" Remus tried to explain.   
  
"Good night." Lily said, drawing her curtains around her bed.   
  
"Lily…" Shay said.   
  
"I said good night. I'm not a baby. I don't need your sympathy." She snapped.   
  
They both sighed and went back to the Common room.   
  
~*~  
  
^^Lily's POV^^  
  
I don't know what just happened. When James said that he would always be with me, it meant nothing. When he comforted me all those times, when he held me in his strong arms, saying no one will hurt me… What did they mean? He was just taking care of me as a prefect duty to protect a fellow Gryffindor? Am I just a baby? Of course. That's why he's going with Sarah. She's not a baby. She can take care of herself.   
  
What the hell was Remus talking about? Him wanting to go to the ball with me? Him being jealous of Rocco? Bullshit. He's trying to make me feel better. I'm sick and tired of this. I love Remus but he doesn't need to make up lies to make me feel better. Maybe James was right. Maybe I can't take care of myself. Everyone's taking care of me. I will show them. I will show them that I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone's sympathy.   
  
~*~  
  
^^James' POV^^  
  
The instant I said those words, I did not get the reaction I had expected. Lily just stared at me. I mean, she just stared at me. No angry fits, no tears, no slapping. I would've rather had her slap me back to my senses. I like her. I'm afraid what she'll do. But I shouldn't be worry. My words don't affect her. She doesn't like me. She likes Rocco.   
  
I think Remus is mad at me. So is Shay and Minnie. Even Sirius said it was pretty harsh. I guess it was a little harsh. I'm not planning on apologizing soon, even though everyone tells me too. Sarah says not to worry about it. She seemed kind of annoyed when I asked her what to do though.   
~*~   
  
"Is Lily in there?" Rocco asked James, who was just walking out of the portrait.   
  
James glared at him, but Rocco didn't notice. "I don't know. I haven't seen her all day. I don't care either." He snapped, walking quickly away.   
  
"Thanks, I guess." Rocco said raising his eyebrows. He continued to wait for her, sitting against the wall. Then Minnie walked out. "Is Lily in there?" He asked.   
  
"Yeah. She's in her dorm." Minnie replied.  
  
"Can you get her? Tell her Rocco is waiting." He answered, sighing with gratitude.   
  
"Uh… I don't think… Okay. I'll ask." Minnie said uncertainly, walking back through the portrait. She walked into Lily's dorm. The curtain around her bed was still closed even though it was noon. "Hey Lily? Are you asleep?"   
  
No answer. "Okay. I guess you're sleeping. Well, just wanted to let you know that Rocco is waiting for you outside." Minnie talked to the silence.   
  
A sniffle was followed by the opening of the curtains. "Tell him I'll be right there." She responded.   
  
Minnie walked out back into the corridor. "She'll be right there." She said and walked away.   
  
"Thanks." He said, standing up.   
  
Lily threw the blankets off and washed her face. She brushed her hair and put it into a tight bun. She changed into her school uniform and walked out to meet Rocco.   
  
"Hi Lily." Rocco said, frowning at her bloodshot eyes.   
  
"Hey." She said.   
  
"Are you okay? You don't look too happy." He asked, taking her hand.   
  
Lily shrugged. "I'm just tired from yesterday."   
  
Rocco knew she was lying. "Let's go for a walk."   
  
Lily nodded and they walked around the school.   
  
"So will you tell what's wrong?" He asked curiously.  
  
"Nothing. It's just, that, um, my dog at my home died." Lily lied. She really didn't want to tell Rocco about James.   
  
"Oh! I'm so sorry Lily!" Rocco said, clearly believing her myth.   
  
"Yeah… I'll get over it though. She was really old and sick." Lily said. Rocco hugged her and kissed her forehead. Lily blushed slightly but returned the hug. They continued to walk around the school. They were walking down a long corridor and James and Sirius were walking from the other side.   
  
First, Lily kept her head down but raised her head and met James' eyes. Her lips went into a thin line and she kissed Rocco's cheek and put her arms around him. James glared at her but kept walking, slightly bumping into her shoulder. When they were out of earshot, Sirius snickered. James glared at him, telling him to shut up.   
  
"I have Sarah." He snapped.   
  
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that slut, who you're just going with to get Lily mad." Sirius said.   
  
James narrowed his eyes, surprised at how much he knew.   
  
"What time is it?" Sirius asked him.   
  
"1:15." James answered, not bothering to look at his watch.   
  
"What? Shit! I have to meet Elena today! I have only fifteen minutes to take a shower and change!" Sirius said, walking faster to their dorm.   
  
James rolled his eyes, but still walked faster to keep up him.   
  
Lily and Rocco stopped in front of the Gryffindor's Common Room.   
  
"Thanks Rocco. I feel much better." Lily said.   
  
"No problem." He answered. He bent down to kiss her lips, but Lily turned and his lips found her cheek instead.   
  
~*~  
  
Three days passed, Hogwarts won all their games, so did Tinhorn. Lily and James didn't even look at each other in the eye. Lily tried not to stare at him during the games and James tried not to think about her when he was playing. On Thursday evening, Lily was watching Minnie and Remus playing Wizard's chess.   
  
"You know Lily, James didn't mean anything that night. He was just mad about how we lost the game." Minnie said slowly.   
  
"Yeah. I don't care what he says. He just thinks he's so great because he's a prefect, a Quidditch captain, and he has airheads falling at his feet." Lily said loudly, when she saw him walking out of the dorm, across the Common room, out of the corner of her eyes. She saw him stopping in her peripheral vision. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air; even the two knights quarelling stopped and stared up. Lily continued to stare at the chess board and Remus eyed James. Minnie was nervously playing with one of the chess pieces. Suddenly, James left the Common room.   
  
"Lily. Two wrongs don't make right." Remus said, leaving the Common room and following James.   
  
"James!" Remus called. The messy haired boy stopped.   
  
"Don't listen to what Lily says. She's in a really bad mood." Remus said.   
  
"I don't. She means nothing to me." James almost shouted, noticing that the portrait was slightly open. Suddenly it swung open fully and Lily stormed out.   
  
"You know what James? Every time you told me that you were going to take care of me, I guess that I was just being a baby! I'm sorry for all the times you stuck up for me! I'm sorry for all the time you wasted your time with me. I'm sorry that I even talked to you. I'm sorry that I met you. I'm sorry that I liked you. I mean, I think everyday, should I smile because you're my friend? Or cry because that's all you'll ever be?" Lily broke down. "Just forget about me. I'll forget about you."   
  
Remus hugged the shaking and crying Lily.   
  
"Lily…" James raised his hand toward her. "I'm so-"  
  
Lily ripped out of Remus' arms and ran into her dorm, for the second time that week.   
  
"She likes me?" James said to Remus.   
  
"I tried to tell you. But you wouldn't listen." He said sadly. "But you hurt her James, you hurt her. Sorry to say, I don't think she likes you that much anymore."   
  
"But…" James trailed off. His eyes were oddly shiny. He got his broomstick and left to the Quidditch pitch. There was a game going on. He swore. He walked around to the other side of the school and flew high into the air, leaving all his troubles on the ground. He flew higher and higher until he came to the spot on the roof where he and Lily spent the night before the first game. He stopped and sat on the roof, looking down on the huge courtyard. He saw a redhead walk slowly out of the school and stop by a swinging chair by the lake. She sat on it, but didn't swing.   
  
James watched Lily, his eyes slowly brimming with tears. He angrily wiped them away. He gripped some pebbles by him, hard, until they left red imprints on his hand. He threw it as hard as he could out into the air, not caring if they hit someone.   
  
An hour passed and the sky grew dark and the brightest stars began twinkle. James saw Rocco come out of the school and sit by her on the swing, touching her arm and trying to comfort her. But Lily turned away and walked into the school. Rocco stood on the bay of the lake and kicked the water lightly with his foot and slowly walked toward back to the school. Another hour passed and James decided to go back in.   
  
~*~  
  
^^James' POV^^  
  
'I'm sorry.' I think that was the most used expression during the week that has passed since Lily, um, finally blew up. But strangely, that is the phrase that I hardly use in my life, along with 'Help me.' I've tried so hard to get Lily's attention and apologize. Actually, now that I think about it, 'Lily' is the most used expression because I would start saying her name and she would just walk off. Her warm green eyes that used to remind me of the forest seem to be almost icy blue, turquoise. Not the warm tropical sea color, but the cold greenish hue sea color that you see in the shores of Scandinavia.   
  
Why, out of all the other girls in my year, did I have to like Lily? Why does Lily have to be like the only one who wouldn't fall at my feet? Why couldn't Lily be like the rest of them? Life is unfair.   
  
~*~  
  
^^Lily's POV^^  
  
I'm so frustrated. James has been trying to apologize to me forever. Forget it, James. I'll never listen to you again.   
  
I don't know what upset me so much, but all those times he made me feel so special, I now realize that they meant nothing to him. But they meant something to me. They meant a lot to me. That was the first time when I truly felt that someone really liked me, not just as a friend. That was the first time someone did something romantic for me. The night on the roof top with him, I'll never forget. The wild butterflies in my stomach that fluttered every time James looked at me, I'll never forget. His brown eyes, specked with gray, like an eagle's wings, I'll never forget. Life is unfair.   
  
~*~  
  
James was walking back from Quidditch to the Common room when he bumped into a tall, lanky, golden haired boy.   
  
"Rocco." James acknowledged.   
  
"You." He said, glaring.   
  
"I have a name." James replied. "It's James."   
  
"I know!" Rocco said, irritated. "I hear it everyday from Lily's mouth. James this, James that. 'Oh Rocco, James is such a jerk. But then, he's so sweet! He's done so much for me!'"   
  
James frowned at Rocco's imitation.   
  
"It's not like I hate you man. Lily really likes you. It's just, that, you really went too far that night, whatever you did. You broke her heart." Rocco said sadly.   
  
"I know. I realize that." James replied looking away. "Listen, could you do me a favor?"   
  
"Depends." Rocco said.   
  
"Could you tell her that I'm sorry? She won't listen to me." James said.   
  
"All right. I'll do that." He replied. "I'll see you later."   
  
"Later." James said, walking sadly to the Common room.   
  
~*~  
  
By lunch on Friday, he couldn't stand it anymore.   
  
"Remus. Tell me. How can I talk to Lily? I've tried." James said.   
  
"Well, you've got to keep trying. See, Lily's not normal. Say you really really liked Sarah and she really really liked you back. Then you practically said that all you've done for her meant nothing. And you're also going to the Mistletoe Ball with someone that you know she really doesn't like. How would you apologize to her? How would you get her to talk to you?" Remus said.  
  
"I would keep on nagging her. Maybe send her some flowers. Treat her like a princess." James said. "By the way, I really do like Sarah." James said indignantly.   
  
"Yeah, whatever." Remus waved the last comment. "But anyways, do 10 times more for Lily. Don't ever give up. Don't send only flowers, but send your love, prove to her that you really do like her. Treat her like a queen."   
  
"But I don't like her more than I like Sarah. I just want to apologize!" James lied.   
  
"That's what I'm saying. That's what it takes to apologize to her. To make her like you again, well, that's another story. Just a warning though, she's stubborn as a mule." Remus warned and left James wondering.  
  
~*~  
  
The Common room was crowded as always at 8 in the evening. A lot of people were huddled in their own study groups around small round tables. The usual redhead that was reading in the loveseat in front of the fireplace wasn't seen. So James took Lily's usual spot and tried to do his homework. But his thoughts kept aimlessly wondering over to her. '"I'm sorry that I liked you."' Those words rang in his mind. Then, '"I think everyday, should I smile because you're my friend? Or cry because that's all you'll ever be?"' James sighed and moved from the loveseat to the couch, hoping that this would divert his thoughts.   
  
Her last words that night, 'Probably the last words to me of her life' James thought bitterly, '"Just forget about me. I'll forget about you."' Suddenly he stood up defiantly, scaring a couple of first years nearby. He ran up the stairs to the dorm rooms two at a time and knocked on Lily's dorm. The door creaked open. For an instant, James could see a pair of cold green eyes, but was followed by a bang and the door shut.   
  
"Lily. Please." James said, knocking on the door again. He continued knocking for awhile. "I'm not going to leave this spot until you answer. I'll sleep by the door if it's necessary." No answer. 'Fine then, I'll just talk to her this way.' He thought.   
  
"Lily. I'm sorry for calling you a baby. You are anything but a baby. You are one of the most responsible people I know. You are so brave Lily. And you don't mean nothing to me Lily. You mean a lot to me. I've been a fool to realize how special you are just three months ago, when I've seen you almost everyday during Hogwarts for the last five years." James said. "Do you forgive me?" No answer. He waited a bit more. Still no answer. "Well, I'll be sleeping right out the door if you feel like talking to me." James hoped this would make her come out. But still no answer.   
  
James groaned in frustration but defiantly sat on the cold window sill of a long window by the door. An hour later, Shay and some other girls went into the dorm, giving James a funny look. He ignored them. But he longed to know what was going on in the girl's dorm.   
  
Lily was lying in bed, reading a Muggle novel, Pride and Prejudice.  
  
"Lily. Did you know that James is out there?" Shay said, raising her eyebrows.   
  
Lily shrugged. "Who cares?"   
  
"He is waiting for you." Shay said.   
  
"For me to do what?" Lily responded, carelessly, flipping a page.  
  
"For you to accept his apology." Shay said. "Lily. Don't you feel sorry for him? He's been trying to get your attention for a week!"   
  
"I mean nothing to him and he means nothing to me." Lily said simply.   
  
"All right." Shay said finally. "Good night." She said, going under her covers.   
  
"Good night." Lily said, going under her covers too. In the dead silence, she could hear James coughing outside. She couldn't go to sleep, so she kept reading her book until 1 am. Another cough attack was followed by a nose sniffle. "Damn it Potter." She muttered. She took the thick blanket and tiptoed out.   
  
It was freezing! The warmth and the coziness from the dorms didn't reach the cold stony staircase. James was sitting and curled up into the ball on the stony floor. He was constantly sniffling unconsciously. Lily smiled sadly at him and spread the blanket over his body and watched the coughing and the sniffling lesson in a few minutes. She then went back to sleep in peace.   
  
~*~  
  
When James woke up, his whole back was sore and stiff from sleeping on the hard ground and his throat was sore from all the coughing. He groaned and stretched his back, which responded with popping noises. His fingers curled around a thick blanket.   
  
"Huh?" He wondered to himself as he felt the heavy and soft fabric. He smelt it. His guesses were confirmed. It smelt of Lily's subtle perfume, the mixture of rose, sandalwood, and vanilla. He smiled to himself and hugged the blanket around himself like a cloak. He checked his watch, which read 6:45 am. He pressed his ear to the door, hoping to hear any sign of awake girls.   
  
"There's nothing to eavesdrop." A cold female voice made him jump. "They're all asleep."   
  
"L-Lily." James stuttered, looking at the petite girl, wearing simple pajamas with a white bathrobe draped over. Her messy hair was tied back. Before he could speak, she went back into her dorm.   
  
James sat down on the window sill, swinging his legs and sighing every five seconds. An hour passed and his friends walked over.   
  
"I never thought you'd do this." Remus said, amused.   
  
"You're going crazy Prongs." Sirius stated.   
  
"You might as well as give up now." Peter said.   
  
James shrugged to all the comments. Instead he had a request. "Can you guys get me a book or something? At least my Quidditch—" James stopped when he realized something.  
  
"-match! I have a Quidditch Match today! Against Soojin!" James cried out. Just when he was about to turn and leave, Lily strolled out. James turned to her and started to speak.   
  
Lily ignored him. Shay followed behind her, looking sadly at James.   
  
"Damn it. Why does she make it so hard?!" James exclaimed, bringing his fist down on the window sill.   
  
"So are you going to play today?" Remus asked.   
  
James looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I! It's against Soojin. Quidditch is the one thing that matters… Wait. You aren't saying that…"  
  
Remus slowly nodded.   
  
James said. "I AM NOT LETTING MALFOY PLAY FOR ME AGAIN!" He bellowed suddenly. Sirius and Peter jumped.   
  
"All right." Remus shrugged. "I understand."   
  
Remus, Sirius, and Peter started to leave when James stopped them. "Can you, um, get me some food?"   
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Silver Hawk-- Gringley, Malfoy, and Snape were looking for Lily in the first couple of chapters because they were 'interested' in her. One of the three liked her, but now they're not interested because she's not of pure blood. I guess I never really cleared that up...   
  
Moe23-- Rocco isn't James' cousin. James' cousin is Kyle Clearman.   
  
Jen/Lamina Court-- I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX TOO!!! 


	21. Ch 21: Chimerical Moment

Yay! I finally updated! Sorry about the long wait. Took me 12 days... guess that's not too bad. Long chappie tho!   
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James sat on the same window sill, masticating on a cold toast and looking out into the Quidditch Pitch. It would soon be crowded, as the game against Soojin was in an hour. Then he looked at Lily. She was busily working on her Potions homework. She glanced up at him and met his eyes. She immediately looked down and could feel her cheeks blush. James slightly smiled.   
  
Quidditch or Lily? This was only one game, they weren't going to lose the Championship just because of one game. Malfoy knew what to do. He wasn't terribly bad… If James lost this chance, he might lose Lily forever.   
  
He thought for another half an hour and finally decided to skip the Quidditch game. Sirius, Remus, and Peter came to James.   
  
"Prongs?! The game is in half an hour!" Sirius said, showing him his watch.   
  
"I know." He said simply, slouching more.   
  
Sirius and Peter stared at him with disbelief. But Remus smiled knowingly.   
  
"Good luck James. I'm sure she'll come around." He said.   
  
"Thanks. I need all the luck." He muttered.   
  
"Woah! You're skipping the game because of Lily Evans?" Sirius shouted. Unfortunately Lily wasn't in the Common room.   
  
"Sure." He said.   
  
"James… You're going too far." Peter said. "You've never done this for a girl. I mean, flowers and chocolate, that's great and all that, but Quidditch?!"   
  
"I'm not giving up Quidditch for Lily!" James said, quite taken back at the idea. [They're only 16… How do they know what love is?]. "This is just one game."  
  
"All right. Your loss, Prongs." Peter said.   
  
"Well, we'd better go now." Sirius said, looking at James as if he was delirious.   
  
"Bye. Have fun." James said.   
  
The Common Room was almost empty and the stands in the Quidditch Field were quickly filling up. Twenty minutes passed by.   
  
The portrait swung open and Conner ran in, breathless in his Quidditch robes.   
  
"James! What the hell are you doing here! We're waiting for you!!!" He yelled, shaking him.   
  
"It's okay. I don't think I'll play today." James said calmly.   
  
"What?!" Conner yelled. "W-Why?"   
  
"Just tell Lily that I'm still here, waiting for her. Tell the commentator that I'm sick with… um, really bad headache." James said.   
  
Conner's mouth dropped and he stood like for a couple of minutes.   
  
"Um, the game's going to start soon." James said.   
  
"Fine!" He yelled frustrated, running back to the field.   
  
James could see the tall, muscular boy talk to the rest of the Quidditch team, grab his broom and fly up to the stands. He told Haylee, the commentator what James told him. He looked around the stands, looking for the redhead. He spotted her, sitting by Rocco. He flew over.   
  
"Uh, Lily?" He said, uncertainly.   
  
"Yeah?" She replied, surprised that Conner, a boy she had never talked to before, was talking to her now. She had a nagging feeling that this had something to do with James.   
  
"He's still waiting for you." Conner said, eyeing Rocco's arm around Lily. He figured that Rocco probably shouldn't hear about this.   
  
"Oh wonderful." Lily said unenthusiastically.   
  
"Who?" Rocco asked.   
  
"Oh, um, Professor Ka, uh, Kaboom." Lily said, frowning at her own creation. "He can wait." She said through pursued lips. Conner looked at her incredulously, at how she rejected James, even when he was skipping Quidditch for her! He frowned at her but left to the middle of the pitch where the game was about to start.   
  
Lily glanced up at the Gryffindor tower and saw a dark form huddled by the window. She felt a guiltiness almost take over her determination, but focused on the conversation with Rocco. After all, James did say that Lily meant nothing to him.   
  
The game wasn't too long. It ended in about an hour and a half, Hogwarts victory, barely, 280-270.   
  
~*~  
  
^^James' POV^^  
  
I watched Conner tell Lily. I thought she would jump up and rush down to see me. I hoped. But no. She sat there, by Rocco. I was watching through my omnicular. For some reason, as excruciating as it may seem, I played the scene where Rocco kissed Lily's head. I was absolutely crazy with jealousy and maybe that was why I imagined that maybe she was going to just wait and leave in the middle of the game so Rocco doesn't suspect or anything. But then, I watched her the whole time, to see if she would come down to meet me. My heart broke to pieces, one by one, as the long minutes passed by. She sat by Rocco, didn't even look at the window. When the game was over, four or five girls came to me.   
  
"I heard about your awful headache James. Are you feeling any better?" A timid third year asked.   
  
"How's your headache James? Should I kiss it?" Domino, a girl in Lily's dorm, said. Kiss my head? Kiss my arse.   
  
"We missed you James! Malfoy wasn't nearly as good as you!" Some other girl said. He'd better not have been…  
  
"Thanks but I feel a whole lot better." I said. Fortunately, my friends came to the rescue.  
  
"Out! Mr. Potter needs his space!" I heard Sirius shout, shooing the girls aside. They left and crowded around Conner next. "Well?"  
  
"She didn't come." I said sadly.   
  
"Oh. Well, maybe she, uh… Maybe that Rocco was keeping her busy." Sirius said hopefully.   
  
"Maybe." I replied, clearly not believing him.   
  
"Maybe she wanted to talk to you after the game." He tried again.   
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Maybe they didn't let her walk across the pitch."   
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Or—"  
  
"Maybe she is over me now. Maybe I shouldn't apologize. Why am I the one to apologize?! She was equally bad to me! She doesn't care about me, I don't care about her. Fine with me." I finished for him.   
  
Sirius shrugged. "Not likely."  
  
Just then, Lily walked in, giggling with Minnie. Seriously, did she have a heart? Didn't she feel at least a Knut worth of guiltiness? She is inhumane. I tried to look away from her, from her radiant smile and her vivid green eye. They looked genuine to me. I did all this for her and all she does is laugh?! I skipped one of the most important Quidditch games of the IQC for her, and this is one I get? I've been sitting on the same spot for the last twenty hours and she's just laughing away, not caring for anything. I couldn't hold it anymore. I felt my eyes sting with tear. I ripped myself from the window sill and rushed into my dorm in a storm. The door slammed shut with a loud bang with a force I did not know I had.   
  
~*~  
  
When James shut the door, the fake smile Lily had plastered on her face all day disappeared. Some people stared at her and she rushed up. 'Oh my god! What did I do!' She screamed in her head. She felt so bad. Her heart was wringing with guiltiness. 'I must've hurt him very bad. I mean, he did so much for me. And I threw it away, just like that.' She thought. She knocked quietly on the door. She could hear kicking and banging behind the door. She knew she wasn't allowed in the boy's dorm, but she didn't care about the bloody rule right now.   
  
As soon as Lily opened the door, a red streak flew across the room and hit with a loud thud on the wall, only a foot in font of her face. That scared her to death. She stood there, with her eyes glued onto the dent it had made in the wall.   
  
"Lily?" A shaking voice spoke.   
  
Lily opened the door wider and stepped in. It was a mess. There were clothes, strewn all over the circular room. The girl's dorm wasn't circular. The boy's dorm was certainly larger, probably because there was only one per year. The red thing that was thrown was a Quaffle, now rolling around slowly on its side. James was standing on the other side, his eyes bloodshot and his fingers rolled into a fist. But Lily was relieved to see that he was visibly relaxing now.   
  
"I'm sorry about that. That was, um, out of hand. I c-couldn't control…" He trailed off. He ran his fingers through his distressed hair and numbly picked up things around him and put them in their rightful places.   
  
No yelling and screaming? No chucking things out the window? This was strange to Lily. But she realized he was crying when she heard a sniffle. His face was shiny with tears.   
  
"You're crying James." She said, not knowing what to say. It was strange to see James cry.   
  
"Potters don't cry." He said fiercely, wiping the tears away with the hem of his robes. "If you want your blanket, it's still out there."   
  
Lily's eyes started to well up with her own tears too. She sat down on one of the beds. "James, I didn't come, not because I don't care about you, but because I wanted to prove to you that I can control myself, that I don't need you to protect me all the time."   
  
James stood still for a moment before walking over and sitting across from her.   
  
"I'm sorry Lily." James said.   
  
Lily didn't say anything. Her eyes glistened brightly.   
  
"I didn't mean anything I said. You don't mean nothing to me. You mean a whole lot to me." He said.   
  
"Then why'd you say that?"   
  
"Because, because I was jealous. I was jealous of Rocco. I was mad at you for going to the Ball with him, not me." He managed to get out.   
  
"Oh. I wouldn't have gone with him if you weren't going with Sarah." Lily snapped.   
  
"Well, I'm going with Sarah because you're going with Rocco." James said.   
  
"But you didn't even know I was going with Rocco!" Lily said. "I wasn't expecting for him to ask me!"   
  
"Remus told me he asked you the day before two days before the game against Tinhorn."   
  
"Exactly! I said yes to him because Sarah asked you the night before that and you said yes to her!" Lily exclaimed, frustrated.   
  
"What! I never said yes!"  
  
"Okay. Then, I assumed you said yes. But you were talking about her the next morning with Sirius. How you just like her so much. How you think of her every moment." Lily said.   
  
"I- I wasn't talking about her." James stuttered, looking away.   
  
"Okay then. Maybe it wasn't her. But it was some Hufflepuff girl from your fan club, right? Which one?" Lily demanded.   
  
"It wasn't one of them."   
  
"THEN WHO!" Lily bellowed.   
  
"It was you." James whispered, knowing she would find the lie in his eyes if he did.   
  
"What?"   
  
"It was you! I was talking about you!" He exclaimed.   
  
"Oh." Lily stayed quiet.  
  
A thick silence filled the air.   
  
"I guess I'm sorry then." Lily broke the silence.   
  
"I shouldn't have even listened to Sarah." James said. "Well, you shouldn't be eavesdropping on me and Sirius." He joked, trying to lighten up the mood.   
  
"Well, you guys were talking pretty loud about how you're hopelessly…" Lily trailed off when she realized what she was going to say. Instead, she changed the subject. "Do you wish you could've played today?"   
  
"Hell yeah." He said, chuckling. "Well, I mean, it's not like I don't want to be here with you. I'd rather be with you than play." He said, thinking quickly.   
  
Lily leaned closer to him. She put her arm seductively around him and whispered. "Then miss all the games and we can spend them together." She was laughing inside.   
  
"Well, Lily… You see…" James said, trying to get a way out of this.   
  
"I'm just kidding you bloke! I'm not that inconsiderate!" Lily said, cracking up. "I'd rather have you play. Malfoy's not going to win the IQC Cup! You are! We need you out there. Before you let Malfoy play for you again, try to knock some sense into me"   
  
James let out a relieved breath and laughed with her.   
  
~*~  
  
Everything was back to normal. To James' and the school's delight, Hogwarts won the next four games and Tinhorn beat Soojin, knocking them off of the Finals. The first snow had fallen and it was freezing. The great trees in the Forbidden Forest looked like snowmen, all huddled together for warmth. It was December 18th, the day before the final game for the IQC Cup. Everyone was restless, even the teachers seemed to be excited for the game. The classes went by unusually slow but the school spirits were high during lunch. Even Mr. Filch seemed to know the game plan: Hogwarts vs. Tinhorn, 3 p.m., Friday, December 18th, wear gold, to match the cup when Hogwarts receives it.   
  
The afternoon classes were canceled and everyone had free time between lunch and the game at 3. Shay and Riley rushed into the Common room, breathless and ecstatic.   
  
"Lily! I did it! I did it!" Shay shouted, running to Lily, who was doing an essay.   
  
"You did what?" She said, putting down her quill.   
  
"I asked Kyle Clearman! Remember him? The really good-looking Berkeley? Remember? James' cousin! At the—"  
  
"Yes. Yes. I remember. But you asked him what?" Lily said, getting impatient.   
  
"To the Mistletoe Ball! And he said he'd go with both of us!" Shay said excitedly.   
  
"Us?"   
  
"Me and Riley! We're both going with him!"  
  
"Really? That's awesome!" Lily said. They rushed off after that.   
  
The Ball was in two days and everyone was rushing to get a partner. Minnie got rejected by Josh, who turned out that he had a girlfriend back at home and she ended up having Remus as her partner. Lily knew that Remus wanted to go with her for awhile. Elena, Sirius's partner, was improving on her English very quickly and Sirius kept giving her lessons. Lily had a feeling that that wasn't all they did behind the closed door of the empty classroom. Peter had found a Gryffindor girl, a year younger than him, willing to go with him. It seemed like everyone had a date to the Ball.   
  
The time between lunch and the game was brimming with celerity and everyone was sitting out in the stands promptly at 2:30. Fifteen minutes later, the players were announced onto the field.  
  
Punctually at 3 o'clock, the game began with the referee's shrill whistle. There seemed to be a new kind of resolution set in the both team's faces, the shiny IQC Cup displayed where the teachers were sitting. Lily cringed every time someone got hurt, she could never get used to it, even after watching Quidditch for five years.   
  
"How do they keep playing like that?" She asked to no one in particular.   
  
"Exhilaration. Efficacy. Vitae." Remus said.   
  
After 20 minutes into the game, Hogwarts was leading 50-40. The day was very clear, a few specks of high winter clouds in the sky. There were still some slushy snow, melted by the unusually warm sun. The lake was halfway frozen. During the day, the beams of sunlight would melt the sheet of ice, blanketing the ice, and during the night, a new sheet would freeze over.   
  
Thirty minutes into the game, Tinhorn took lead 80-70. A group of love-struck Hufflepuff girls were holding a big banner, waving into the cold breeze. It read "Go Hogwarts!" and medium sized below "You can do it, James and Conner!", a big shocking pink heart with "We haven't forgotten you, Sirius!" in small letters on the bottom. A dangerous gust of wind suddenly rolled across the school grounds and lifted the banner out of the girls' hands. It flew over and sneakily engulfed Conner Banks, the keeper, in a blank gold world. The Quaffle passed through the hoop in that moment. The referee's whistle sounded, signaling that the goal had counted.   
  
"WHAT!!" James shouted at the referee. "That wasn't fair! Interference!"   
  
"The rule clearly states that a cheering or fan banners and such will be allowed in the game, at the consequence of the supported team. That banner obviously was supporting the Hogwarts Quidditch Team, was it not?" He said.   
  
James shut up but glared at the group of Hufflepuff girls. They giggled at how cute he looked when he was mad. Lily rolled her eyes.   
  
"Brainless dolts." She muttered.   
  
The Quaffle was in James' hands as he weaved in and out, toward the goal. He narrowly ducked under a Bludger and threw Quaffle to Trombley, who hit it with the tail of the broom, closer to the goal, which James threw it in. Hogwarts was following shortly behind by 10. The game was getting intense. When the game was tied, James called for a time out. The players looked at him confusedly but flew down to the dugout.   
  
"Okay. You guys. I have one word to say." He said.   
  
They all craved in to listen closely.   
  
"Actually. I don't have anything to say." Instead, he pointed to the gleaming Cup, glistening in the winter sun.   
  
The seven players just stared, as if in a trance, their mouths slightly open and a dreamy look on their face. Suddenly the shrill whistle of the referee made them snap back to reality. They now moved with a new vigor, almost hallucinating the cup in front of them. Hogwarts was now in the lead and the score was 140-100.   
  
Before anybody really noticed, the two seekers were racing for the Snitch by the grass. The Tinhorn Seeker was beating Anson King, the Gryffindor Seeker by about a foot. Just when his fingers were inches away from the Snitch, a Bludger, hit by Shay, hit the Tinhorn Seeker's broom's tail. Anson crashed into the Seeker and they both rolled into fumble of scarlet and blue. The whole school erupted in cheer and Shay grinned cheekily. James flew over and kissed her on the cheek.   
  
"Thank you so much! You're the greatest!" He shouted quickly before continuing with the game.   
  
The Tinhorn seemed to be blinded with fury and anger at Shay and hit the Bludgers toward her, instead of the Chasers, who were scoring by the minute. Luckily Shay didn't get hit too badly even though she was pelted with Bludgers and the other team's Beaters. An hour later, the score rose to 350-210. Hogwarts were beating them by 140. Trombley, one of the Gryffindor Chasers, threw in a perfect goal through the left hoop. Hogwarts was now up by 150. If the Tinhorn seeker got the Snitch, then the game would be tied. When there is a time game in the IQC Finals, they took all the points won from all of the school's games and add them up. If that happened, Tinhorn would beat Hogwarts by 240 points.   
  
For the second time, the Seeker seemed to zoom out of nowhere and back into the center of the pitch, chasing the fluttering gold ball. All the players were transfixed by the chase. The Bludgers were far out of reach for a quick save. The Tinhorn Seeker was getting very close; his shaking, outreached fingers were almost touching the fluttering wings. Just then, James snapped back to reality. If they got the Snitch, the Cup was theirs; however, if Tinhorn got the Snitch, the Cup would be awarded to them. He looked around and saw the Quaffle in one of the Tinhorn's Chaser's hands. He spurred on his broom and knocked it out of his hands, caught it and scored a goal, quickly past the unsuspecting Keeper, Rocco. A moment after that, the Tinhorn Seeker's fingers grabbed around the Snitch. Half of the school was giving confused looks at the other half who were wildly cheering.   
  
"James Potter sneaks in the last shot! The score is not 370-360! HOGWARTS WIN THE IQC!!!" Haylee, the commentator screamed excitedly.   
  
The whole school erupted in a fresh wave of cheers. A great swarm of scarlet and gold rushed from the stands and congratulated the winners. Sarah rushed out to congratulate him, but James ran to Lily.   
  
"You did it!" Lily yelled, jumping into his open arms. He kissed her cheek and she blushed deeply, unconsciously touching her burning cheek.   
  
Sarah cleared her throat loudly behind them.   
  
"Sarah!" James said, surprised. He gave her a weak, but still happy hug and was about to peck her on the cheek, but she pulled him into a deep kiss.   
  
Lily raised her eyebrows and turned around to find Rocco. She smiled sympathetically at him.   
  
"I'm sorry Rocco. You were great though." She said, hugging him.   
  
"It's all right. We did win it two times in a row the last two years." He shrugged. "We had to share our glory." He joked.   
  
Lily laughed and took his arm and went into the Great Hall. People were seated in the crowded Hall and the Quidditch Teams stood in two straight lines. Anna Townsend, the Head of the Magical Sports Department, rose from the seat beside Professor Dumbledore.   
  
"I would like to congratulate the winner of the Interschool Quidditch Championships. Hogwars School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" She said. The Hall erupted in a loud cheer, with some polite clapping. She presented the luminous, golden cup to James, captain. Each of the players received a smaller version.   
  
"Now moving on to the individual awards. Best Chaser is, Gil-Hwan Choi from Soojin Academy!" She announced. The Hogwarts students clapped politely as the tall, tan boy went up to receive a mini golden replica of a Quaffle, with a writing on the side.   
  
"Best Beater, Shay Fintley from Hogwarts School!" Shay went up there and Lily cheered happily for her friend.   
  
"Best Seeker, Josh Kim from Soojin Academy!" The boy that Minnie had asked, but got refused to the Ball, walked up.   
  
"Best Keeper, Rocco Castagno from Tinhorn School!" Rocco sheepishly walked up there and received the award.   
  
"And Best Captain, showing excellent leadership skills is James Potter, Hogwarts!" She said.   
  
When James went up to receive the award, he caught Lily's eyes, which were shining brightly at him. That moment seemed almost chimerical.   
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I thought that this fic was getting darker and darker by every chapter. I was even going to make James get really badly hurt and Hogwarts lose the IQC, but that would be too mean with all the things that James is going through. I'll be nice. Next chapter is going to be on the Ball! I have part of it written out! Hopefully it won't take as such long time to finish as this chapter did. -_-;; 


	22. Ch 22: Mistletoe Ball

Finally! I finished this chappie! Major writer's block!  
  
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Lily looked at herself in the mirror. Her black dress robe that she had gotten the day before clung to her thin figure tightly. It came just above her knee and the sleeves were three quarters. The neckline was a 'v' shape and she wore a simple gold necklace. For the first time in a while, she took more than five minutes to do her makeup. She wore frosty white eye shadow just barely and different shades of bronze. Her shiny, curled red hair fell just about her shoulders. She had to admit it. She looked beautiful. She loved how the dress brought out the features that she usually didn't show off. She loved how her makeup brought out her big green eyes. She loved how her hair bounced when she walked. But in a way, she hated it all. She hated how she looked gorgeous; because this wasn't for James.   
  
"You ready Lily?" Shay asked.   
  
"Yeah." She replied, straightening out her dress for the millionth time. Minnie stepped in the dorm. "Minnie! You look nice."   
  
She was wearing a light green satin robe that hung loose. She had curled her hair and had it in a fancy updo with a few curls framing her oval face. "Thanks. You do too Lily."   
  
Lily, Shay, Minnie, and Riley all stepped out of the dorm. Remus was already there, wearing a dark blue robe. He grinned at Minnie.   
  
"You look beautiful" He said quietly.   
  
"Thank you. You look nice too." She said, smiling.   
  
He tucked a small fragrant hyacinth stem into her hair. She took his arm. Lily, Shay, and Riley walked behind, whispering how cute they look together. Suddenly Shay and Riley squeaked and ran to Kyle's side, both taking each of his arms. Lily awkwardly walked to the Great Hall by Remus and Minnie who were quietly talking together. She was supposed to meet with Rocco there.   
  
He was leaning against the wall, wearing dark burgundy robes. His whole face brightened as he saw her and he walked quickly over.   
  
"Lily. My princess." He said, kissing her hand lightly.   
  
"Rocco." She said, giggling.   
  
"You look absolutely fabulous."   
  
"Thank you. You look pretty nice yourself." She responded.   
  
Professor Dumbledore, wearing rich purple velvet robes stood up to speak.   
  
"Welcome to the Mistletoe Ball." He announced.   
  
People cheered happily.   
  
"Even though the Interschool Quidditch Championship is over, we have this whole evening to enjoy. Now, can I have the Hogwarts Quidditch Team come up here please and lead the dance?"   
  
The seven couples walked into the center of the Great Hall. James was wearing a sharp black robe and Sarah was wearing deep red robe with tall heels that made her almost tall as James since he wasn't that tall himself. The band struck a medium paced tune that gradually speeded up to a fairly fast one. Shay was dancing with Kyle while Riley had grabbed a tall Ravenclaw. People moved into the dancing floor when the song quickened.   
  
"Do you want to dance?" Rocco asked.  
  
"Sure." She replied.   
  
They started dancing but Lily's gaze kept landing on James and Sarah who were dancing at the center of the floor.   
  
"Did you do the decorations?" Rocco asked, causing Lily to go back to his warm blue eyes.   
  
"Yes. We prefects were in charge of them."   
  
"It's beautiful."   
  
There were many round tables, with a mistletoe or holly floating above them. Four big Christmas trees were set in each corner of the Hall and magical snowflakes that disappeared as soon as they touched something were gliding gracefully from the ceiling.   
  
"Thank you." Lily said, satisfied, looking around the Great Hall.   
  
A slow song started.   
  
"Let's eat." Lily said.   
  
"All right." Rocco said, a little disappointed.   
  
Lily took his hand and led him to the table with Shay. As soon as they sat down, a menu appeared before them. Lily ordered a grilled salmon with yellow squash and the food magically appeared on the table. Shay and Rocco foloowed the suit and ordered their own food.   
  
Meanwhile, James and Sarah were dancing together. James had been watching Lily's every move since the dance had started. When she sat down, James let go of Sarah.   
  
"What's wrong?" She asked.   
  
"I'm hungry. Let's have supper."   
  
"All right." She shrugged.   
  
James led her to the table where Lily, Rocco and Shay were sitting. He sat across from Lily, by Sarah.   
  
"Hey you guys." He said. He turned to Lily. "Liliy, you look beautiful." He said, captivated by her eyes. They stared at each other.   
  
"Aren't you forgetting your manner?" Shay joked, nudging her.   
  
"Oh!" She said, startled. "Thank you." She said, not breaking her gaze.   
  
He nodded curtly when Sarah reminded him to order. He ordered his food and they began to talk lively. The conversation shifted from Quidditch, schools, and settle on who looked the best in the crowd.   
  
"I don't see her anymore, but I thought Elena Berezhnaya looked pretty nice." James said.   
  
"I wonder where she and Sirius are." Shay wondered.   
  
"Probably snogging behind some bush." James said.   
  
Just then, Sirius showed up, holding Elena's hand. They both had rosy cheeks and tousled hair.   
  
"Told you…" James said.   
  
"Hiya! Can we join you?" Sirius asked cheerfully.  
  
"Of course." Lily said. She levitated a few chairs and brought it to their table.   
  
The table grew bigger to fit more people and Sirius and Elena sat down.   
  
"Doesn't Remus and Minnie look so nice?" Shay said, sighing and looking at the dancing couple.   
  
"Whoo! Go Remus!" Sirius shouted. [great guy… huh]   
  
Remus and Minnie blushed deeply. They decided that they were 'hungry' and walked over to join Lily's table.   
  
"What are you doing? You looked so cozy!" Sirius said.   
  
Remus rolled his eyes and sat down by Lily. Minnie sat down by him. They talked lively while eating and about an hour later, they were nearly done with their desserts. Lily and Rocco got up to dance and Shay and Riley traded off, leaving Riley to sit by herself and Shay dancing with Kyle. Sirius and Elena too got up to dance.   
  
"Can we dance now?" Sarah said, sukily.   
  
"All right."   
  
After an hour, Riley had grabbed a guy from Salem who 'was just as hot as Kyle', she sad, and Minnie and Remus were dancing again. Lily and James and their dates sat down again.   
  
"I can't believe Snape got a date." Lily muttered.   
  
"She's not that bad looking." James said.   
  
"Her name's Yvette, she's the seeker on the reserve team for my school." Rocco said.   
  
Yvette [check out her story, You Never Saw Me! Love ya Yvette… -_-;; okay. On with the story] was a fair height, tan with shoulder length brown hair. A boy from Durmstrang came over and asked Sarah to dance.   
  
"Is that okay James?"   
  
"Go ahead." He responded, a little too happily. She looked at him strangely and left to dance.   
  
"Do you want to dance Lily?" Rocco asked.   
  
"My foot hurts. I want to rest." Lily lied, excusing herself to stay with James. James smiled slightly. Soon Sirius came over to join them.   
  
"How is your wonderful evening lads and, uh, Lily?" He asked cheerfully.   
  
"Fine. How are you?" Lily asked. Just then, a Hufflepuff came over and asked to dance with James.   
  
"Sure." He said slowly and reluctantly. The girl squealed happily and James look sadly back at Lily and Sirius but was dragged off.   
  
"Do you want to dance?" Elena asked Rocco. "I mean, if that's all right with you guys." She added, pointing to Lily and Sirius.   
  
"Sure."   
  
"Fine, go ahead."  
  
"I don't mind." Rocco and Elena left to dance together.   
  
"So Lily. How's it going?" Sirius asked again.  
  
"I already told you, I'm fine." She said, staring into the crowd.   
  
Sirius followed her gaze, which landed on the messy haired boy. He smiled knowingly. "Want to dance with Prongs?"   
  
Lily blushed and studied the sleeves of her robes. Without a word, Sirius got up and tapped James on the shoulder. He whispered something and began to dance with the girl James had been dancing with. James strolled over to Lily.   
  
"Lily, do you want to dance?" He asked, offering her a hand.   
  
The smile that she had been holding in the whole night, bloomed like a radiant flower. She took his hand without an answer gladly. They danced a couple of songs before Rocco asked to dance with Lily. An hour later, Lily was dancing with Remus, James, with Elena, Sirius with Minnie, and Rocco with a tall blonde Denver.   
  
"You looked pretty nice with Moony." Sirius said to Minnie, winking.   
  
"Shut up." She snapped jokingly, not looking at him in the eyes.   
  
Sirius laughed. "Are you going out with him?"   
  
"No."  
  
"Oh."   
  
"So has Lily and James danced together yet?" Minnie asked.   
  
"A few times. I guess you were too busy dancing with Remus to notice, huh?"   
  
"Sirius?"   
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Shut up."   
  
~*~  
  
The night progressed on slowly for Lily and the last song, which was a slow one, finally came.   
  
"Rocco, can I please dance with Lily?" James asked politely.   
  
Rocco stood quietly for awhile before finally saying yes.   
  
"Thank you." James replied happily, taking Lily's hand and leading her to where their friends were. James' arm slinked to Lily's waist and she rested hers on his shoulder. The other hand intertwined with one.   
  
"So how was your evening?" James asked.   
  
"Great, except the time I wasn't dancing with you. You?" She said softly.   
  
"Same here." He said.   
  
He sniffed in her fragrance and tucked a piece of curly red hair behind her ear.   
  
"You know, I like you with curly hair."   
  
"Well, you'd better enjoy it now because I'm not wasting three hours every morning, waiting for the Curling Potion to work in my hair." She said, rolling her eyes.   
  
"All right." He said, smiling.   
  
He stared into her green eyes, drowning into the pools of emerald. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. James rested his chin on top of her head, sighed, and closed his eyes too. A slow, genuine smile appeared on his lips. The song ended before they knew it but James still held her close to him and coiled one of her curls around his finger. He looked at her straight in the eye.   
  
"I—" He stared to say.   
  
"James! You're my date! Come on! Walk me back to my dorm!" Sarah shouted shrilly.   
  
"The dance is over Sarah. I'm not your date anymore."   
  
Sarah stood there, her perfectly painted lips in a round 'O'. She stormed off, her long straight hair flying behind her. A moment later, Professor Dumbledore's clear voice rang through the Great Hall.   
  
"And that concludes the IQC." He sadly announced. "The train for the foreign schools leave at 10:30 am and the vacation departure train leaves at 4 pm. Thank you all for coming tonight and I want to thank the other schools for traveling here to Hogwarts and playing a fair match. I hope you have enjoyed your stay, as much as we enjoyed you staying with us."   
  
Everyone applauded and started to head to their own dorms. Lily was just turning to leave, her hand in James' when a voice called out her name.   
  
"Lily!" She turned around. It was Rocco. "Look, my school isn't leaving on the train, we're taking the Knight Bus so we'll be leaving early, and I won't see you tomorrow. I just wanted to say good bye and thank you for the evening."   
  
Lily smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye Rocco."   
  
"Good luck with James." He whispered in her ear.   
  
Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise but smiled. "Thanks. Owl me!" She said, going back to James. They went to their own dorms.   
  
In Lily's dorm, Shay was already in her pajamas.   
  
"Lily!" She shouted. "I think I'm in love!"   
  
Lily laughed. "With who?"   
  
"Kyle Clearman! He's so, so sweet! I love him…" Shay said, hugging her pillow tightly. "What am I going to do when he leaves tomorrow?"  
  
"You can probably see him at like a family reunion at James'." She said.   
  
"Great!" Shay said. She took out a parchment and busily began to write down something.   
  
"What are you doing?"   
  
"Writing to Kyle that we can meet at James' next family reunion."   
  
Lily laughed. She did indeed hope to see Rocco someday again, but was now looking forward to seeing James everyday, hopefully, for the rest of her life.   
  
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Not the longest chappie. But it was either this much rite now or like three times longer in like a month. So... -_-;; sorry! This story is almost over! Just about two or three more chappies to go!   
  
I'll be posting how the story is going here:   
  
I'm going to starting a new ficcy soon. Should I post the first chappie now? hmm... Maybe tomorrow. 


	23. Ch 23: Christmas Vacation

FINALLY! MY GOODNESSSS! I'M SOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR A LONG TIME... Well, not the longest chapter ever... but a chapter a chapter rite? x]~ I should be able to get the next chapter up sooner than this one. I'm halfway done with it. YeP~  
  
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Christmas was fairly pleasant for Lily. Lily and her family traveled to Aberdeen in Scotland, where their relatives lived. One morning, on Christmas Eve, Lily, being a very light sleeper, woke up to soft, familiar hooting. She opened her eyes and noticed four sleepy owls rustling their feathers softly on top of the bed that she was sharing with her cousin, Olivia. Lily sleepily got up, untied the letters and parcels from the four owl's legs, fed them some leftover pie from last night and sent them back out on their way before Olivia could wake up.   
  
The parcels weren't wrapped in the normal brown paper, but in Christmas wrapping paper, so she put those aside, deciding to open them on Christmas Day and ripped open the first letter, from Shay, which told her that she had just stayed home and something about going to James' house at the end of vacation. The next letter was from Minnie, who had traveled to France and it also said at the end, "See you at James' soon." The third letter was from James and it explained that he had invited a couple of friends to sleep over at his house and catch the Hogwarts Express together. The fourth letter was from Remus, which shortly explained that he was in Sweden and that he'd see her at James' house.   
  
Lily was now fully awake and brimming with excitement. With a heavy sigh of disappointment when she realized that her parents wouldn't be up for another hour, she dragged herself to the bathroom for a long shower.   
  
After the half hour respite, which seemed more like two hours, half of the house was groggily getting up and washing up for breakfast.   
  
"Where did those come from?" Olivia asked, looking at the new small pile of presents at the end of their bed.   
  
"Oh, they were in my trunk, I just forgot to take them out." Lily covered up.   
  
The large dining room was slowly filling up with people as more and more of Lily's relatives came down the stairs. As breakfast progressed, the conversation shifted from the recent IRA attacks to the popular tennis player, Martina Navratilova.   
  
After breakfast, the children went outside to play in the fresh snow, which covered the world in a white blanket while some adults went out to get some last-minute shopping done and some stayed in the kitchen, with steaming hot chocolate. Lily's parents were one of the few that were still in the kitchen so Lily went up to them with James' letter.   
  
"So can I go?" She asked delicately when her mother's eyes finally scanned the last words.   
  
"Love, James Potter?" Her mother said dangerously.   
  
"He's a friend."   
  
"Love, James Potter?" She repeated, her nostrils flaring dangerously like Professor McGonagall's. "Lily, this does not sound like a friend. Your father and I didn't get interested in each other until—"  
  
"I'm not dating him!" Lily interrupted.   
  
"Good! I'm glad you got that right!" Her mother flushed. "Now go play outside like a normal child and don't come to me begging if you can go sleep at some boy's house."  
  
"It's just a friendly gathering. Even Shay is going."   
  
"Lily, I thought you were all grown up, but I guess not. You don't need to go just because Shay is going. Also, you can clearly see that this boy is interested in you and I don't approve of him smothering my daughter. You're falling into his trap!"  
  
"HIS TRAP?! WHAT TRAP! HE'S JUST A FRIEND!"   
  
"Oh, stop screaming. Harold, come on. Tell her we absolutely disapprove."   
  
"Well Jolene, he seems like a harmless friend to me. Just because he used the word 'love' at the end of his letter, we shouldn't be jumping into absurd conclusions."   
  
"ABSURD? JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS!?" Lily's mother slammed down the cup of hot chocolate, spilling little drops on the mahogany table. "HAROLD! WE CAN'T JUST LET OUR DAUGHTER GO TO SOME STRANGE BOY'S HOUSE! WE DON'T EVEN KNOW HIS PARENTS!"  
  
"Jolene—"  
  
"DON'T CALL ME PARANOID! I'M NOT—"  
  
"I wasn't going to. Why don't we just invite them over sometime and meet them. Maybe they're perfectly fine…"   
  
Lily's mother had stomped off in frustration.   
  
There was an obvious tension between Lily's parents and also between Lily and her mother throughout the rest of the vacation in Aberdeen. There was an awkward silence throughout the car ride and when someone spoke, the words were spoken slowly and stiffly. Even Petunia decided to keep her mouth shut.   
  
The few days after Christmas Day were quite uneventful and rolled by slowly. Lily stayed cooped up in her room, catching up on holiday homework while her parents finally started to speak to each other, although a bit formally than on regular basis. Lily read over James' letter, over and over again, wanting desperately to go. But it was too plain that if Lily brought up the subject again, the consequences would be worse.   
  
When the morning of the day that Lily was supposed to go to James' house finally came, Lily awoke with a heavy sigh and trudged downstairs, filled with envy for her friends. She grabbed a French toast off the oven and carelessly dropped it on her plate. The glass plate made an unpleasant 'clang' on the table when she dropped it a little harder than she intended. She tried not to look around the table as she sat down. She slowly masticated on the toast, while studying the pattern on her plate. The day went by as usual and her mom went out to shop while Petunia was in her room, giving herself a pedicure.   
  
Lily sat comfortably on the sofa and twirled a piece of hair around her index finger, sipping hot chocolate, reading a book. It was pouring outside, instead of the white snow that she hoped. She gazed into the fireplace and was dozing off lazily when the door knocked curtly.   
  
"Got it." Lily heard Petunia say.   
  
She heard the door swing open and the rain splashing outside, accompanied by a symphony of thunders. A blood curling scream echoed in the house and Lily rushed to the scene, surprised by the scream.   
  
"What the—" Lily's father started.  
  
"Um, hello!" Lily said carefully.   
  
"I'm very sorry for the scare miss! I really sincerely did not mean to!" The blue eyed elf said. "Please accept my sincere apologies!"   
  
"What is this… thing?" Petunia spat out, frowning at the small elf.   
  
"This is an elf, not a thing." Lily replied curtly. "How can we help you?"   
  
"Oh yes, I'm sorry, the introduction slipped my mind… I am Cineraria, Elf number 14 of the Potter-"  
  
"They numbered you?!" Lily asked, disgusted.   
  
"Well, no. Us elves insisted Madame Potter to, but she refused. I really do not know why. I don't expect them to remember our names. But they are so kind, to call us by our n-names…" Cineraria managed to say before she broke down, crying. "They're t-too good to us. B-bad time for el-elves… B-b-but too good to us…" It took a few seconds for her to regain her composure before she began to talk normally again. "Please forgive me. Anyways, I am here to pick up Miss Lily Evans. The carriage is outside."  
  
"Huh?"   
  
"Miss Lily Evans right? My master told me to pick up Miss Lily Evans."   
  
"But…" Lily suddenly realized that she never sent a letter back, saying her parent's responses. She turned around to her dad, with a subtle hint of hopefulness in her eyes.   
  
"Lily, your mother said no."  
  
"Dad!"   
  
"Lily." He sighed. "Go ahead. I'll talk to your mother."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. I think you're responsible enough to make the right choices."   
  
"Dad! You're just letting her go?!" Petunia screeched. But her voice was drowned when Lily squealed in joy and gave her father a tight hug.   
  
"All right, let me get my stuff." Lily said. She had already packed all her stuff since she as done with her holiday homework the day before and had nothing to do.   
  
"Got them!" Cineraria exclaimed, snapping her fingers. The baggage disappeared from Lily's sight.   
  
"Thanks. Okay, dad. I'll see you during Easter Break then?"  
  
"Of course honey." He replied.   
  
Lily hugged him, said bye to Petunia, who was slowly backing out of the foyer, and walked out into the pouring rain. A scarlet carriage with six white reindeers was floating in the air in the middle of the main drive. Cineraria just casually walked out into the street and into the air. There seemed to be an invisible set of stairs, leading up to the carriage. Lily fidgeted on the curb, staring strangely at the happy elf, humming to herself.   
  
"Well hurry up miss! We don't have all day!" She said, motioning to Lily.   
  
Lily precariously stepped into the street, feeling a plushy something ahead of her. The air seemed to be dense under her feet and she carefully and slowly walked up to the carriage. Cineraria swung the scarlet door open for her and she stepped into the carpeted carriage.   
  
"Hey Lily!" Minnie greeted her cheerfully.   
  
"Oh hey Minnie!" Lily smiled and sat down by her.   
  
"Hello Miss Lily Evans!" A brown eyed elf bowed deeply, before breaking into a toothy grin. "I am Lily! Cineraria's second cousin."   
  
"Lily? Your name is Lily?" Lily asked, laughing.   
  
"Yes. I hope that does not cause confusion between the two of us." Lily the elf said.   
  
The two elves both had on a deep burgundy outfit on. She studied carefully and noticed that the skirt was made with curtain ruffles and the top was made with a small pillowcase. They both had a small engraved 'P' on the bottom hem.   
  
"Mr. Sirius Black, Mr. Peter Pettigrew and Miss… uh…" Lolly trailed, scratching her head. Lily the elf violently poked her side and whispered loudly 'Shayla Fintley' and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Miss Shayla Fintley is waiting back at the Manor." Lolly squeaked, her round face turning into bright pink. She turned around and hit her head repeatedly, whispering the name numerous times.  
  
"Oh. Okay." Lily said.   
  
She leaned back in the luxurious seat. The carriage passed lush green hills of the estuaries and passed over the busy streets of Canterbury. Soon, they flew over the outskirts of the city and into the rural parts of the country. The carriage slowed down and hovered above a medium sized house, which Lily recognized as Remus' house. Sure enough, five minutes later, the three of them, Lily, Remus, and Minnie were chatting happily about their vacation. Before long, the carriage stopped in a 19th century style manor with a circular courtyard in front of it.   
  
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Bad place to stop... yea i know. o wells. I love reviews... Did u know that? 


	24. Ch 24: Unsolved

The three of them stepped of the carriage when stopped in front of the manor. It was a beige color with a big balcony, facing a wide green lawn.  
  
"Your luggage has already been put in the guest room Miss." Lolly said curtly, walking ahead of them. Remus naturally said thank you and followed the elf to the door while Lily and Minnie were still taking in the atmosphere around them. "Don't dally! Come along!" Lolly said waving to the two girls, standing out in the rain.  
  
Lily and Minnie scurried to the dry balcony. The door opened automatically and as soon as they stepped inside the wooden floored foyer, two elves scurried to their side and took their coat and disappeared as fast as they came.  
  
"Lily! Minnie!" A voice shouted above them. It was Shay running down the stairs. She hugged both of them and James, Sirius, and Peter followed her.  
  
"Hey good old Moony! I haven't seen you for a long time!" Sirius said, slapping Remus' back.  
  
"Yeah. Three days is a really long time." He replied sarcastically.  
  
"Miss Evans! You are looking tremendously fantastic, as always." James said, bowing and kissing her hand.  
  
"Same to you Mr. Potter." Lily laughed.  
  
A voice cleared beside them.  
  
"Forgive me to interrupt this special moment, but I believe that my so-called 'well mannered' son forgot his manners and didn't introduce me, the great Chandler Potter, please call me Mr. Potter the Great." A middle-aged man said curtly.  
  
All of them, except James and Sirius stared incredulously at 'great Mr. Potter senior'. James and Sirius' faces were red and their lips were in a thin line. After a few uncomfortable seconds, the two burst out laughing.  
  
"O man Chandler did you see their faces!" Sirius said between gasps.  
  
James laughed. He turned to his friends. "Wow, we should've taken a picture of that one! You guys looked like you just saw a dancing hippogriff!"  
  
"Uh, nice comparison James." Minnie said, smiling.  
  
"Anyways, meet my dad, Chandler Potter, you can call him Chandler. Dad, this is Minnie Kim, um, I forgot her real name. But that's okay, right Minnie?" James said.  
  
"Yeah. Minnie's fine." She said laughing.  
  
"This is Shayla Fintley, she arrived earlier while you were at the Ministry."  
  
"Ah, one of the Beaters, isn't that so?"  
  
"Yep!" She said happily.  
  
"And this is Lily Evans." James announced proudly putting his arm around her.  
  
"Oh! So this is the Lily Evans. Heh, interesting. Your mother had green eyes too James."  
  
"Yeah I know." He said a little sadly. "Oh yes. And meet my mother."  
  
They turned to the large painting he pointed to. The woman waved at them and her eyes were, indeed, sharp green.  
  
"Now I must go back to my office and work on a new case. I hope you guys have an enjoyable stay here. Feel free to call me for anything" Chandler said kindly and disapparated.  
  
"Now how about some food?" James suggested.  
  
They all agreed and followed him to the kitchen.  
  
"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter! You cannot come here! You cannot come here! Only elves allowed! Only elves allowed!" One of the elves that took their coats said.  
  
"But Bibby, we just want a quick snack. Can we just grab like some cheese and crackers or something?" James pleaded.  
  
"Cheese and crackers sir? Cheese and crackers. Okay. Bibby will do that. Rosy can do that. Now just wait out in the dining room. Just wait in the dining room. We'll be quick. Really quick." Rosy said, before running off.  
  
"Uh... Okay." James muttered. "I guess we'll just sit and wait."  
  
"How many elves do you have?" Minnie asked.  
  
"Five." He replied.  
  
"Really? It seems a lot more." Shay said.  
  
"They're just everywhere. They have apparating powers so they just pop out of nowhere everywhere."  
  
"Pop out of nowhere everywhere?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Nowhere everywhere? Isn't that an oxymoron?" He repeated.  
  
"Yes. You're a genius Sirius." James stated.  
  
"Ha ha, I know. It's a shame that the professors can't see it though."  
  
"It is here! It is here!" A squeaky voice sounded behind them. It was Bibby, holding a tray of crackers. Behind her, another elf was holding a small plate of various types of cheese and jam and a small knife. Bibby set the tray of nicely arranged crackers on the wooden table and the small elf shyly put the cheese and jam.  
  
"Thanks Bibby. Thanks Rosie." Sirius said.  
  
Bibby grinned in response and ran back to the kitchen. Rosy blushed deeply and giggle nervously.  
  
"Th-thank you, Mr. Black."  
  
"Call me Sirius! Sirius! I don't like that name, Black. Sirius will be fine."  
  
"But S-s-Sirius, Black sounds so d-dashing and b-b-brave..." Rosy replied, wringing her gnarly fingers. Everyone laughed. Rosie's dark brown, almost black eyes, started to collect tears around the bottom, her bottom lip started to tremble and before she broke into a full wail, she scampered back into the kitchen.   
  
The girls 'aww'ed and the boys laughed.   
  
"I thought Rosy was over the phase!" Remus said, laughing.   
  
"Yeah me too. Everyone goes through the Sirius phase, but four years is too long." James commented.   
  
"Four years? Oh man, that elf has got to go out and see the world." Shay joked.   
  
"Aww shut up. Girls like me. Right? Didn't you have a crush on me in second year?" He asked.   
  
"Uhh… No." She replied, raising her eyebrows.   
  
"Oh." Sirius said, embarrassed.  
  
They finished the snack and went into the living where they played a wizard's version of monopoly and various other games. Promptly at seven, they were all called into the dining room for supper. The table magically expanded itself to fit more people than the usual two and the food was carried onto the table by two house elves, Rosy and Bibby.   
  
Dinner was filled with laughter and Lily noticed that James had gotten his sense of humor from his father. After a long dinner and some desserts, Chandler suggested that they should get some sleep because they would have to wake up early to catch the train back to Hogwarts.   
  
~*~  
  
Just like he promised, they had to wake up early to catch the Hogwarts Express. By four o'clock, they had all arrived at their destination and started to unpack.   
  
At the owl post next morning, Lily had forgotten her mother's disapproval, until Chrys, her owl, turned up sour and bitter onto Lily's breakfast, holding out her leg. There was a letter, crudely tied onto her leg, with a few pieces of tape taped around for extra security measures. Lily knew exactly who it was from. She knew only one person who would send her an owl post and didn't know how to. With shaking fingers, she gingerly took the letter off the unhappy Chrys and opened it.   
  
"Lily-  
  
I am VERY ashamed in your actions. I thought I raised you to be a better daughter, a good and honest person. Well I have had a long talk with your father and his decisions may not be always the same as mine. We will have a longer discussion on this when you get home for your Easter Vacation. But so far, don't even think about mentioning another gathering with your friends for your whole Hogwarts life.   
  
-Mum"  
  
"Who's it from?" James asked with curiosity.   
  
"Mum." Lily answered meekly.   
  
"What's it say?"  
  
"Well… You see, I wasn't exactly allowed to go to your house yesterday. But my dad let me go anyway because he thought that I should go; it was my mum who disagreed." Lily said, sighing.   
  
"Oh." James said, the guilt clearly showing in his eyes.   
  
"Don't feel guilty James. I really wanted to go and it was definitely worth it." She smiled, looking into his gray eyes.   
  
James' hand found Lily's and she forgot all about the letter and melted into his eyes.   
  
At the end dinner on the first day of April, a black raven dropped a letter on Lily when she was leaving for class. Lily looked strangely when most of the whole hall, including the teachers, fell silent. They stared gravely at her. Remus reached his hand and touched her arm.   
  
"I'm so sorry Lily." He muttered.   
  
"What? What are you sorry about?" Lily asked.   
  
"The raven. It's a death notice post." Remus explained,  
  
looking at the shiny bird with piercing yellow eyes, screeching and flying gracefully out of the hall.   
  
Lily still looked confused and she carefully opened the letter. She unfolded the perfectly folded paper. The font was very fancy.   
  
"Dear Miss Lily Faye Evans,   
  
We grimly announce with our deepest sorrows that there has been a death in your family. Jolene Marissa Evans..."   
  
Lily stopped there.   
  
"Ha ha ha Remus. Not a funny joke. Whose idea was this. I bet it was..." She said, her voice shaking. She trailed off. She looked at the letter again.   
  
The moment her eyes skimmed over that part of the letter the second time, the blood drained from her face. She looked around herself. Hundreds of silent eyes were fixed on her. The seconds seemed to go by slow. Her fingers languishly uncurled, letting go of the letter and the envelope. She watched it fall. The paper was swaying side to flipping over like a feather, finally reaching the floor. Just then, her heart dropped with it.   
  
Her head started to spin and she could hear her heart beating loudly. It was drumming in her ears as if it was telling her that her mother was dead. She started to breathe in and out, raspily, getting faster and faster. Her lungs seemed to be clogged. When she blinked, the world went away, but when she opened them, the reality came back to life.   
  
Her feet automatically fumbled around unconsciously. She turned around, looking for somewhere where she could hide, don't let the reality grab her. She ran out of the Great Hall. She didn't think anymore, all she saw in front of her were thousands of pictures fluttering before her eyes, all of her mother. She ran out into the open grass field and lake. She tripped on a rock by the lake. Her feet stumbled and she kept running, into the forest. She tripped again on the root. This time, she didn't get up. Her fingers gripped the dirt and she squeezed it. She grabbed everything in reach, screaming.   
  
She stopped suddenly, panting and curled herself into a ball. She sobbed silently, growing to a wail. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was warm and heavy. She laid her hand on it lightly. The hand squeezed her shoulder lightly. She turned around and fell into James' arms. He sat down laid her down in his lap, who was still crying. James didn't know what to say. He wanted to make her feel better and he felt as if the life had gone out of her. He simply gripped her hand and twirled a strand of her hair with his other hand. The sun started to set. The whole sky flamed red at the horizon, turning into a purplish blue at the top. It seemed to be weeping for Lily.   
  
James noticed she had fallen asleep. He picked her up and carried her inside to the hospital wing. The Great Hall was still filled with students and he didn't want anybody to see Lily at this state. So he took the long way around. They were greeted by Madame Monzingo.   
  
"Dear dear... I've been expecting her. Yes. Set her in one of those beds. I would clean her up a bit, but I don't want to wake her up yet." She said, pointing to a row of beds, with fresh white linen. James gently laid her down. He silently drew a chair by her and sat down, holding Lily's hand.   
  
James stared at Lily's fingers. He stroked the top of her hand and studied each of the fingers. He fingered comforting messages on her hands, hoping she could hear them in her sleep. He jumped, startled, when Sirius said James' name.   
  
"She'll be all right. She's strong." Remus said. It seemed like James was ignoring Remus and Sirius, but he nodded after a while.   
  
"James..." Sirius murmured. "I-I don't know what to say. I read the letter. They were in a car accident. Her dad's barely alive." James shook his head and laid his forehead on Lily's warming up hands. Sirius set the letter on the bedside table. "I'll come back in the morning." They left.   
  
Then, Shay, Riley, and Minnie walked in.   
  
"Is she okay? I just heard." Shay said timidly, setting a card on the table. James shrugged and sighed.   
  
"I hope so." James said. Remembering how he had reacted when his mother had died last summer. He refused to come out of his room for a week.   
  
"I made these for her." Minnie said ruefully, offering folded paper lilies. There were seven of them all and they even smelled like lilies. She set them on the tables.   
  
"I'm so sorry Lily." Shay squeaked out before walking out. Riley set a card on the table and walked out with Minnie.   
  
James knew Lily wasn't sleeping throughout the night. He could hear her sniffling occasionally and sometimes squeeze his hand tightly. James fell asleep around two though. But he woke up when he heard the bed squeak and Lily's hand leave his.   
  
"Lily?" James whispered to the ghostly figure.   
  
"Bathroom." She croaked.   
  
"All right." He said, reluctantly watching her shuffle to the bathroom. She went in. About two minutes later, she came back out, sobbing and sniffling. He walked over to her and hugged her. He slipped his hands around her waist and she put her shaking arms around his neck. She slowly set her head on his shoulder and he stroked her head.   
  
"Shhh... It'll be all right." He said.   
  
"No. She's dead. I won't see her again. How do you call that all right?" She whispered. He didn't have an answer to her question. He was languished with rue for her. She sniffled again and drew away. She walked back to her bed and hid under her blankets. When James woke up again, it was morning.   
  
"James?" Sirius said.   
  
"Yeah..." He mumbled back.   
  
  
  
"It's 8:20. Breakfast is going on." Sirius said. "Come on." He said, touching James' shoulder.   
  
"What if Lily wakes up?" James said, looking at Lily's ashen face.   
  
"I'll stay here. You go get some food. I already got some." Sirius said.   
  
"All right. If Lily wakes up, tell her I'll be right there, and come get me." He said. Then he paused to think. "No, stay here. Don't leave her. I'll be back soon as possible." James said, walking quickly in the Great Hall. He was bombarded with questions, all about Lily. He ignored most of them and sat down by Remus.   
  
"Hey James. How's Lily?" Remus said.   
  
"Hey. She's sleeping. Can you pass me the toast?" James asked. He ate them plain, not caring to put any butter. He gobbled one up as fast as he could, took a swig of pumpkin juice and went back to the hospital wing. Sirius was still sitting in the same position.   
  
"You already ate?" Sirius asked suspiciously.   
  
James brushed crumbs off his robes as a response and sat down in his chair.   
  
"Why James?" Sirius asked. James looked up. "Why are you doing this for her?"   
  
"I know what it feels to lose a mother. Also, I think I'm in love with her. I realized that yesterday. I can't imagine not spending the rest of my life with her. I can't bear to lose her too." He said, referring to when his mother had died last summer.   
  
"I wish I was in love." He said, sighing. "I wish that I would have someone always waiting for me. The same person. I mean, it's great to have all these girls fawning over me. But I want one person who I can turn to, no matter what. Someone I would do anything for."   
  
"It feels right. It doesn't feel like a feeling you've been wishing for. You wonder, 'This feels like I've been born with. How come I've never experienced this before?'"   
  
"You know, if a girl heard that, they would all fall for you." Sirius said, chuckling. They sat there, talking when Professor Dumbledore came in.   
  
"Mr. Potter. I'm afraid I can't excuse out of your classes today." He said.   
  
"But sir--" He started.   
  
"We'll feed her a sleeping potion. She'll be sleeping all day." He said.   
  
"If you say so Professor." James said sadly, getting up.   
  
"James, she's very lucky to have you." He said with a smile. He left.   
  
"Bye Lily. I'll be back later in a few hours." He whispered, touching her feverish cheek.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
YAY this chappie came out fast huh! Well actually I had the second part of this chappie done a loooong time ago. The hard part was making very flow into it. I didn't do very good. The transition is kind of awkward and it may seem kind of sudden.... but... haha deal with it. it was either this or waiting like another month. I'm trying to get this story done so I can concentrate on my other story. If you haven't read it yet... DO IT NOW~ thnx~! x] 


	25. Ch 25: A True Friend or more?

Hello! Hello! Enjoy reading~  
  
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Lily opened her eyes, slowly. It was already noon and the bright sun rays had flooded into the clean and white Hospital Wing. She saw the paper folded and scented lilies on the table by her bed, carefully arranged with a couple of colorful cards.   
  
"You're awake." Remus said.  
  
"Am I?" Lily hoarsely responded.  
  
An uncomfortable silence heavily hung in the air.  
  
"I want to talk to Dad." She said.  
  
Everyone glanced at the letter, clutched in James' hands.  
  
"You will Lily, you will." He said.  
  
Just then, the bell rang and one by one, they walked out.  
  
"Why didn't you tell her?!" Remus whispered furiously.  
  
"It's too early! Losing her mum is bad enough for her. She can't handle that she practically lost both of her parents..." James fought back.  
  
"James! She would want to know. It'll be worse if she finds out herself and you never told her."  
  
"I'll tell her when the time is right."  
  
"When is that?"  
  
"When she gets her strength back." He said defiantly.  
  
"You're being too protective James, too much for her own good. She's not a baby. She has a right to know." Remus responded.  
  
"You don't know what it feels like to lose a parent! It changes your whole life!"  
  
"Look, I know too well about life changing tragedies." Remus said heatedly, thinking about the werewolf bite, his baby sister dying and his mom running away. "You can't just ignore it and try to hide away from it."  
  
"Which is why I WILL tell her. I just think this is all for her own good."  
  
"I know, I know…" He replied. "It's just that… Well, just remember what I said James." With that, he rushed off down the corridor.  
  
James stared at Remus' back, distressed.   
  
"I can't believe him. I thought he cared about Lily." He said.   
  
"Well, Prongs, I have to kind of, sort of, just a little, teeny bit, agree with Mr. Moony." Sirius remarked carefully.  
  
James shot him a surprised glance but stayed silent.   
  
Sirius continued. "I'm not trying to side with Remus… I just think… Well, she is 16 years old."   
  
"I got to go get my Potions book… Left it in, um, bathroom last night." James mumbled. Sirius couldn't help but notice the bright blue book, with the faded title "Advanced Potion", sticking out from the stack of books that James was carrying.   
  
As James aimlessly wandered off, thoughts and images raced through his mind. Lily looked so frail, so lifeless yesterday; how could she ever handle the news that both of her parents were dead? But what Remus said stuck to his mind. A problem doesn't go away if you ignore it. It did seem reasonable to listen to Remus. He obviously had the more unfortunate life out of the two and he knew Lily better, because he's been one of her best friends for a long time. As he pondered, he found himself in front of the Potions classroom.   
  
~*~  
  
Potions passed slowly and Transfiguration passed by a little bit quicker and it was time for dinner. To everyone's surprise, Lily had come out for dinner. She was gravely silent, slowly chewing on her food, keeping her eyes glued onto the plate.   
  
"Lily, are you feeling okay?" James asked.   
  
She nodded and went on chewing her food.   
  
Remus was unusually quiet also. When he got done, he stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. James followed him quickly.   
  
"Remus!" He said, when they were out of earshot, in the corridors.   
  
"Yea?"   
  
"Look, I thought about what you said. I'll tell her tomorrow morning."   
  
"You're a good friend James. A friend doesn't shield one another from the reality; they hold on to each other's hands and walk through life together."   
  
"Since when were you so thoughtful?" James chuckled.   
  
Remus laughed and went on his way.   
  
~*~  
  
The morning that James dreaded the most came. He walked into the Hospital Wing, surprised that Lily's bed was empty. Worried, he ran back to the Common Room, the Great Hall and finally stuck his head in her dorm. Girls squealed and giggled at the sight of James Potter in their dorm.   
  
"James! What are you doing here?" One of them asked.   
  
"Where's Lily?"   
  
"Isn't she still at the Hospital Wing?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Well I don't know then. Want to help me pick out my outfit for today though? I can't decide between pink—"  
  
"Thanks!" He shouted behind him as he raced out.   
  
An idea struck him. 'Of course! Why didn't I think of that earlier?!' He ran back into the boy's dorm, now breathless and pulled out the Marauder's Map and peered around, looking for Lily Evans.   
  
"Damn it…" He muttered, clearing the map.   
  
He walked quickly to the Great Hall, in hopes of finding Shay or Minnie there. Luckily, he spotted them going over Charms notes.   
  
"Where's Lily?" He asked them.   
  
"Professor Dumbledore just told us that she left to go back to her family for a week."  
  
"WHAT?!"   
  
"We didn't know about it either. It was really sudden. Dumbledore told us that they connected her house to the Floo network just for this time." Minnie said gently. "I think it it's best for her though. She needs to be with her family… Hold on, you didn't tell her?"  
  
"I was planning to this morning!"   
  
"Oh no…"  
  
~*~  
  
Lily stepped out the fireplace that they hardly used. The house seemed so empty and forlorn.   
  
"Dad?" She called.   
  
There was no answer. She called out louder, running into every room of the house. When she realized nobody was home, she called her aunt who lived a few minutes away.   
  
"Hello? Aunt Eli?"  
  
"Lily?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh honey! You must be devastated—"  
  
"Do you know where my father is?"   
  
"Don't you know? He didn't get released from the Royal London Hospital yet."  
  
Lily was speechless. After a long silence, she spoke. "London Hospital?"  
  
"Yes dear."  
  
"B-but, why?"  
  
"Well the local hospitals can't handle his critical state. They needed better technology from a major hospital."   
  
"Critical state?" Lily still had no clue.   
  
Just then, her Aunt realized that she didn't know. "Lily, I'm coming over right now. I need to talk to you in person." And she hung up.   
  
Lily put the phone down gently, a tear rolling down her cheeks. Critical state? What was that supposed to mean? She was so afraid. She wanted to be in someone's arms. It surprised her that that someone's arms she wanted to be was not in heaven, a hospital, or anywhere near. That person was in Hogwarts.   
  
~*~  
  
That Saturday morning, James sat in front of the fire, contemplating on what he should do. Shay and Minnie shared a couch, holding their books, but their eyes weren't moving. Sirius and Peter played a quiet game of Wizard's Chess after putting a silencing charm on all the pieces. Remus was pacing back and forth, stopping every few minutes, sighing.   
  
"Look James, what are we doing here? We can't do anything. One of her family members will tell Lily probably. Let's go pull a prank or something. It'll take your mind off this matter." Sirius suggested.   
  
James merely ignored him after throwing him a look of annoyance in his direction. After another half an hour, James suddenly rose, making everyone jump. "I've decided."  
  
"What is there to decide?" Sirius asked, annoyed about James's response earlier.   
  
"I'm going over there. I'll ride on my broom with my invisibility cloak, follow the railroad tracks until I get to London then go to her house."  
  
"Do you know where she lives?" Remus asked.   
  
"Ermm, no… But don't you Shay? I bet you've visited her loads before." He said hopefully.   
  
"Yes I know where she lives." She squeaked out. "But James, you could get expelled for this."  
  
"It's a weekend. Nobody would notice I'm gone. I know that the prefect meetings are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings"  
  
"What if some teacher asks where you are?" Sirius asked.   
  
"Tell them some kind of an excuse. You're good at it." James responded impatiently. "Now where does she live?"   
  
Shay sighed and told him the directions and James sprinted upstairs to get his stuff. Soon he was back, dressed in a thick black cloak, the invisibility safely hidden in his pocket and his broom in his hands.   
  
"Look, I think it'll be better if I leave from the Quidditch Pitch by myself. You guys stay here. I don't want to be too suspicious.   
  
"All right." They agreed.  
  
"Tell her I said hi." Remus said.   
  
"Yea, me too." Several others said.   
  
"Good luck." Sirius said softly as the portrait swung shut.   
  
~*~  
  
Lily wandered aimlessly throughout the house, wanting desperately to hold on to someone. She passed by her parents bedroom where the door was slightly open. She stopped, closed her eyes and stepped in. She breathed in the familiar smell of her mother's perfume and the scent of the air freshener. A wave of nostalgia took over her as she staggered to the neatly made bed. She sat on the edge, stroking the cotton sheets, looking at a framed picture of her parents. Tears silently running down her face, she just sat there, unaware of the minutes passing by. Several minutes later, she heard the door swing open and her aunt's voice calling her name.   
  
"I'm coming down right now." She said, walking down the stairs.   
  
Aunt Eli was already sitting down on the couch and looked at Lily sympathetically as she sat down by her.   
  
"Lily, I'm very sorry about your mother." She started.   
  
Lily stayed silent and Aunt Eli continued.   
  
"Do you know how she passed away?"  
  
"No." She said softly.   
  
"Car accident. She and your father were driving home from dinner. It was raining and dark and a drunk driver swerved in their lane and your father stepped on his brake. Their car skidded off the road and hit a light pole. It was a really bad crash Lily. We all thought both of your parents were dead."  
  
"Oh…"   
  
"But your father escaped… barely. Right now, he's alive."  
  
Everything was silent. They could hear the soft drips of the tap water in the kitchen.   
  
"I thought you knew." Aunt Eli said slowly.   
  
"I never finished reading the letter." Lily merely said. "Can we go see him right now?"   
  
"Of course honey." She responded, putting her arm around Lily.   
  
They drove about an hour or so to the busy streets of London and stepped inside the warm hospital. A nurse showed them to Harold Evan's bed.   
  
Lily stared blankly at her father. He had a nasty cut above his eye and a black and blue bruise. There was an oxygen mask helping him breathe and a heart monitor beside the bed. Its beeps were slow… but they were regular and steady beeps.   
  
"Dad?" Lily said incredulously. She said it a little louder.   
  
"He can't talk dear." A kind voice said to her.   
  
Lily looked up and saw a young doctor, adjusting some tubes.   
  
"I'm Doctor Nina Kole. You can call me Doctor Nina." She said kindly. Offering her hand. Lily shook it. "Your father can't talk right now. But he can hear what you're saying."  
  
"When is he going to be all right?"  
  
"Well he's certainly improving. His breathing has become more regular, same with his heartbeats. We found a couple of ribs broken in his body, a lot of fractured bones but no head injuries. We'll have to see about when we can start talking. He certainly can't walk around until the broken bones heal, which will take the minimum of six months."   
  
"I see…" Lily said hoarsely. She grabbed her father's hand and felt it softly squeeze hers back.   
  
~*~  
  
"Aunt Eli where's Petunia?" Lily asked, while eating dinner at a local restaurant down the street.  
  
"She was on a trip to Russia with Vernon. Her flight back was schedule for next week, but she managed to get one for tomorrow as soon as she heard the news."  
  
Lily nodded slowly in response and ate her dinner. She remembered the last dinner she had with her mother. It was vegetable stew with some pumpkin loaf. She looked around the small restaurant and saw a woman slowly sipping some vegetable stew. Lily felt her eyes sting with tears again and she shut them, tightly and dabbed the corner of her eyes with her napkin.   
  
"Oh dear, Lily. Are you all right?" Aunt Eli asked.   
  
"Yea I'm fine." She answered.   
  
They finished their meals in silence.   
  
~*~  
  
James followed Shay's directions and finally stepped off his broom in front of the Evan's house. He knocked but there was no answer. 'She must be in some hospital with her dad.' He guessed. He went inside anyway when he found the door wasn't locked. Flipping through pages in the yellow book and calling the major hospitals around the area, he found the one where Harold Evans was in. He grabbed Lily's baggage that was left by the door and set off again.   
  
It was hard weaving in and out of people in the crowded reception area of the hospital. After peering over a nurse's shoulder and studying the list of patients and their room numbers, he finally found the room where Harold Evans laid. Surprisingly, Lily wasn't there but there were two chairs drawn by the bed. James put down the baggage, hid his broom with his invisibility cloak below the bed and fell asleep as soon as he slumped down in a chair, tired after trip that took the whole day.   
  
~*~  
  
"James?" Lily whispered, gently shaking him.   
  
James opened his eyes and saw a pair of green eyes staring back at him. "Lily!" He exclaimed.   
  
"What are you doing here?"   
  
James eyed Lily's Aunt and just said "I just came to see if you were all right."  
  
Lily furrowed her eyebrows but softened. "Aunt Eli, this is James Potter from my school."  
  
"Hello James."   
  
"Hi. Nice to meet you."   
  
"Look I have to go." Aunt Eli turned to Lily. "I left the kids with John. I should go check on them. I'll be back tomorrow. I heard your grandparents are coming tomorrow in the afternoon also. I'll see you then Lily. Nice to meet you James."  
  
"Bye" They both said.   
  
"So." Lily said. "Want to tell me what you're doing here?"   
  
"I told you, I just wanted to see if you were okay." He repeated.   
  
"Dumbledore let you?"  
  
"Erm… He doesn't know about it."   
  
"How did you get here?!"   
  
"I flew… with my invisibility cloak on."   
  
"Do you know how much trouble you'll get into? You'll get at least a month of detentions!"   
  
"It's okay Lily. I don't care." James said quietly.   
  
"Not to mention at least seventy points taken away!"   
  
"I don't—"  
  
"You're a prefect for god's sake James! Think of what examples you're setting for the younger ones!" Lily yelled as quietly as possible. She muttered the last words. "You never know… You might even get expelled."   
  
"Lily, I told you. I don't care about the consequences… It'd be worth it." He said softly, reaching out and touching her cheek. "I came to see you."  
  
Lily responded by falling into his arms. The familiar tears flowed down her cheeks again. "Thanks James." She said, muffled into his thick robes. "I'm sorry. I should've… I-I'm just glad you're here."   
  
"I'd go anywhere for you my flower."   
  
"Bloody hell I miss her." She said frustrated. "And now, I can't believe it… Dad's almost gone."   
  
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."   
  
"You knew?"   
  
"Yes. Sirius told me from the letter. I just… thought you weren't ready for the news yet."   
  
"Oh. It's all right I guess. I found out soon enough anyway. Plus, I can't do anything to help him."   
  
They spent the rest of the night by Harold Evan's bed, soon falling asleep after awhile.   
  
~*~  
  
The next morning James went back reluctantly. The trip back was terrible. It was windy and rainy but he made it back safe, only with a red and stuffy nose and a mild case of fever. He checked his watch, discovered that it was currently time for lunch and went back inside. After a hot shower, he found his friends waiting for him in the Great Hall.   
  
Relief was written on the Marauder's faces but soon turned to fear as they saw Professor McGonagall approach them, her lips in a thin line.   
  
"Mr. Potter!"   
  
"Y-yes?"   
  
"Where were you for the Prefect's meeting last night? Did I not make it clear during lunch yesterday that there was a Prefect's meeting?"   
  
"Um, yes ma'am." He murmured. Feeling small under her glare he managed to say that he had a bad headache yesterday.   
  
"One more meeting missed, Potter, and you're handing in your prefect badge!"   
  
"Yes ma'am." He muttered, keeping his eyes down.   
  
With a huff, she stormed away. The breath that he held was released.   
  
~*~  
  
A week later, Lily came back. Her father was still recovering and she certainly looked a lot better. She had to work very hard to catch up in her classes, but caught up in no time. April flew by and most of May was spent in preparing for the exams. As time flew by, Lily seemed to be back to her old self. Her father was released from the Hospital, but had to live in a wheelchair until he could get crutches.   
  
It was later than 10 pm in the common room and everyone was asleep, except Lily and James, who were both studying for the exams. Suddenly, a paper plane hit her in the hit and was followed by a laugh from the messy-haired boy.   
  
"Why did you do that?" Lily asked.   
  
"Just because. No reason." James answered.   
  
"Every action has a reason." She state as a matter-of-a-fact.   
  
"Fine. Why am I wearing black slacks? Why not my gray ones?" He asked.   
  
"Because it was lain in your drawer before your gray ones and therefore, it was easier to pick that one out." Lily stated.   
  
"Why was that one placed on top of my gray ones?" James asked.   
  
"Because the house-elves washed that one first."   
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Because you wore those before you wore your gray slacks."  
  
"And why's that?"   
  
"The same reason you're wearing black ones right now." Lily said.   
  
"So it's like a cycle. I'll always wear these black pants, say, every five days."   
  
"No. Maybe you feel depressed and feel like wearing black and decide to wear black. Something like that." She said.   
  
"All right then." He said, getting up from the couch. He did a cartwheel. Lily laughed. "Why did I do that?"   
  
"To prove your point." Lily said. He looked defeated.  
  
Then, after a few seconds, he grabbed her and kissed her on the lips. Lily's stomach did a rapturous flip and her body surged with exuberance. She closed her eyes in chimerical pleasure. She couldn't breathe. When he drew away after what seemed like an eternity to her, but was actually a mere few seconds, Lily's eyes fluttered open to meet James'. He stared in her green eyes.   
  
"Now was that just to prove my point?" He asked softly.   
  
Lily responded with a stronger kiss.  
  
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Yay! They finally kiss! Haha, aren't you happy? I think just one more chapter and this story will be over... How sad! But I had the best readers ever... You know, reaching +400 reviews would make me REALLY happy! -wink- 


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